Surprise, Surprise
by starcastic
Summary: Rory thinks things are fine with Logan...until Jess shows up. Literati. Rated M for a reason. :D
1. Caller Unknown

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please be nice to me. Review and I will love you forever. The pairings will probably end up being less Rory/Logan and more Rory/Jess. You just gotta love the bad boy!

Summary: Rory and Logan have a good life at Yale until a certain someone comes back from Rory's past. --Roll drama--

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"Hon," Lorelai whispered to Rory. "Rise and shine."

Rory moaned and pulled her comforter over her head. "Mmmnphh," she mumbled.

Lorelai stifled a laugh and watched her daughter squirm under the blankets. "I have coffee," she said and shook the cup a bit. A stray arm reached out of the tangle of bedsheets and Lorelei giggled. "It's _Luke's_…and you have to get up for it," Lorelai said as she walked backwards to the door.

"Coffee," Rory grunted, knowing her weakness. She opened one eye and glared at her mother. "That better be the best cup of coffee he's ever made."

"Always is, babe," Lorelai said as a matter-of-fact. Rory struggled to a sitting position in her childhood bed. The clock on her nightstand showed 8:30am in big red letters, as if it were mocking her. "You have to go to Yale soon, fall break is over…" Lorelai

Rory nursed her coffee and resented her mother's newfound love for the mornings, at least those that Luke opened the diner. Rory had the unfortunate pleasure of knowing that Lorelai couldn't sleep after a good-morning quickie. That was just a little TMI, but she was used to it by now. Luke and Lorelai had been engaged for a few months now and they were inseparable.

Rory sat up in her bed, savoring the last few sips of her coffee. When finished, she went into the kitchen and found her mom passed out on the table. "You cheater," she said as she poked Lorelai.

"Huh, what," Lorelai looked around questioningly. Her eyes focused on Rory and she smirked. "My secret's loose!" They smiled at each other for a bit and Rory poured her some coffee.

"I'm just gonna finish packing the rest of my stuff, then I have to go," Rory said as she headed back into her room. "My first class starts at noon…"

Lorelai leaned on Rory's door frame and watched her little girl pack away all her things. "Is Yale treating you well?"

Rory nodded. "It's cold," she laughed. "You still haven't fixed that!"

"I knew I was forgetting something," Lorelai sighed. "I could've been working on that instead of napping."

Rory picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder. "I've got to go Mom," she hugged Lorelai and headed to the door. "Yale's calling!"

"So that's what that noise was," Lorelai laughed. "Go be smart, smartypants!"

XXXXXXX

Rory stopped at Luke's for another cup of coffee before starting her hour drive to Yale. She listened to her iPod on the drive and by the time her playlist was over, she was at her dorm. Branford Hall was full of people moving in their clean laundry most likely done by their mothers. She smirked to herself, Rory did Lorelai's laundry when she was home…the dirty clothes were overflowing out of the laundry room. _I guess Luke isn't a laundry man either. Probably has enough flannel shirts to last a month._

**Doyle's**,Rory read Paris' note on the door. She went inside and dropped her bag off in her room. It was only 11:00; she had 45 minutes until she had to leave for class. Rory opened her laptop and sat at her desk to continue the article she was writing for the Yale Daily News when an instant message popped up on her screen.

YaleMan302: Hey Ace. Colin, Finn and I are hosting a welcome back party tonight, you in?  
Rory thought about it for a bit. Her article was due at four the next day, and she had a 10am class.  
StarsDaughter: I don't know...  
YaleMan302: You'll make the deadline, I swear.  
StarsDaughter: You know me too well. I'll be there.  
YaleMan302: See you at 8.  
YaleMan302 has signed off.

Rory sighed and went back to her work before it was time to go to class. _I just got back and I'm already in the swing of things. Thank God for good friends._ She thought as she headed out of her dorm. **Logan's, tonight at 8**, she wrote on the whiteboard before leaving. Rory knew she'd be back to her room before she left, but Paris would probably stop by and she tended to freak out when she didn't know where Rory was. Rory also liked to invite Paris along, though she never came. Seemed like the right thing to do.

XXXXXXX

Logan closed his computer and went out into the common room. "Rory's in for tonight," he announced to Colin and Finn who were sitting on the couch playing with the Playstation2.

"We'll be glad to see her again, mate," Finn said when he finished his turn. "I'm taking care of drinks, right?"

Logan nodded yes and asked, "Why wouldn't you?"

Finn laughed and turned back to his game. "Damn straight."

Logan shook his head and joined the guys on the couch. "Don't either of you have class?" He looked at his watch, it was nearing noon. "I mean, that is why we're here."

"The official school break must have messed with your head," Colin replied. "The question is, shouldn't you be at the paper?"

"You've got me there," Logan admitted his defeat. "I am so gonna win." He turned back to the TV.

XXXXXXX

Rory went back to her room around 6 after two classes and around 3 hours at the paper. She was close to finishing her article and she was thinking of an appropriate ending when she arrived at her door. Rory absentmindedly searched her purse for her keys before she noticed the writing on the door.

**Rory, 692-0064. Call me.**

The writing looked familiar, but she couldn't place it. She found her keys, opened the door, and slung her bookbag on the couch before she took out her cell. Rory dialed the number and waited.

"Hey," a slow, deep voice came over the line.

Rory gasped, "Jess?"


	2. A New Hello

**A/N:** Thanks to some inspiration, this has been posted a couple hours after the first chapter… I just love leaving with cliffhangers, but I needed to write more! Please, tell me what you think! Sorry it's so short, I just figured it needed to end here, and I'm tired and going to bed.

**Disclaimer:** I unfortunately don't own anything Gilmore Girls related…not even a tshirt! Sad!

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"Hey," Jess replied.

"You already said that," Rory said, dumbfounded.

There was a long pause before they spoke again. "How's Yale?" Jess finally asked.

Rory thought back to the conversation with Lorelai that morning, "Cold, but Mom's been slacking recently. She should fix that soon." She heard Jess chuckle in the background. "Why are you calling Jess?"

"Talk about a mood swing, jeez," Jess said with a sigh. "Can't a guy just call a friend?"

"Yeah, if we were friends," Rory scoffed. "I haven't seen or heard from you since you ran away to California. You don't sound like you're in California."

"How would you know what California sounds like?"

"Beaches, hippies… Where are you?"

"Tell me, what do hippies sound like?" Jess said, amused.

"You're stalling. Where are you?" Rory was getting aggravated.

"Why do you want to know so badly? You miss me or something?"

The voice was so familiar to her, the tone, the jokes. She closed her eyes and she could see his grin. He knew he was getting to her. She lowered her voice, "Where are you?"

"Somewhere close, Rory," Jess said her name with meaning. "Rory, who's Logan?"

_I haven't talked to him in almost two years, and he knows who I'm dating? Did California give him psychic powers?_ "Excuse me?" Rory backed up to the couch and sat down gently. "How do you know about Logan?"

"It's on your door, 'Logan's, at 8'."

"You can see my door?" Rory said, surprised. She glared at the door, wondering if he was on the other side.

"I saw it when I wrote my number," Jess tried to calm her down. "How else do you think it got there?"

Rory breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't quite ready to see Jess again. "I'm sorry…I just…" She was almost at a loss for words. He let her gather her thoughts. "Jess?"

"Rory," he said with what seemed like passion. "Logan?"

_Oh my, Logan…_ "There's a coffee cart around the corner from my dorm. It has coffee that rivals Luke's, and it's on wheels. Meet me there in an hour." Rory looked at her watch. It was 6. She had to be at Logan's at 8. She was going to see Jess at 7. _Jess._ She couldn't believe it.

"I'll be there, coffee in hand."

XXXXXXXXXX

Rory leaned back in the couch and stared at her phone for a good fifteen minutes before realizing she had to get ready. Startled, she got up and ran to her room. She glanced in the mirror and froze in her tracks. _I've changed a lot since the last time I saw him,_ she thought.

After looking through her closet, she remembered that Lorelai and she went shopping the day before. It seemed like so much time had passed since she came back to Yale that morning. Rory took a red and black sweater set from her bag and paired it with her favorite jean skirt, tights, and knee high boots. When she went to get her jacket, Rory noticed her reflection again. _Will he recognize me?_

Rory looked at her watch again. 6:50. She could get to the cart within minutes, she had time. Rory added some mascara and lip gloss, which she wouldn't have usually done just to go to Logan's. She searched in her closet for the brightest, most 'Lorelai' scarf she could find and with a few minutes to spare, she grabbed her leather jacket and headed to her demise.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jess's eyes lit up when she turned the corner. He almost dropped the two coffees he had in his hands. It was Rory. She was here, with him. He shook his head, he couldn't believe it. "That scarf," he commented when she was within ear range.

"I thought you'd like it," Rory said with a smile, "I figured you'd recognize me better with it."

It was hard to imagine that he'd ever forget her. "Well it definitely reeks of you and Lorelai. Coffee?"

"God, yes," she said and accepted the coffee. "It's been a long, long day."

"Very possibly made longer by the fact that it's almost freezing outside?" Jess hinted.

"Oh, sorry," Rory said. "Come on."

Jess followed her into a nearby building. "Wow," he whispered. "Wow."

"I thought you'd like this too," she said and turned to face him. Behind her was one of Yale's libraries. Thousands of books, just waiting to be read. He was in heaven and he was there with Rory. Rory started to walk quickly to a section on her right. "Smell it," she said and picked up a book.

Jess gave her a look that said, 'You're crazy.' She raised an eyebrow in temptation. "You know you want to," she pushed the book closer to him.

Taking it out of her hand, he opened it and raised it to his nose. "Old," he commented, "Wise." He closed it again and read the author. Nietzsche. She really was crazy. He placed the book back on the shelf and turned to Rory, who was looking at him like he was a house being appraised. "We need to talk."

**Read and review! I love you all!**


	3. Please Don't Cry

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews people (the two of you…). I don't care if it was only two, I'm all excited to write more. I hope to start making the chapters longer. If anyone has ideas of what _they'd_ like to happen, just tell me. I am very accommodating, cos I don't really know where this is going to end up.

**Disclaimer:** I live in a cardboard box on a street corner…in other words, I own nothing!

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Rory was taken aback by the serious tone. They were just joking about Nietzsche, and now he wants to talk. She knew it was coming, she just expected a bit of warning. "Now? Here?"

Jess looked at his watch and said, "Well, it's 7:20, you're gonna have to go to _Logan's_ soon." He spat out Logan's name like it was poison.

"Jess," Rory said, leading him away from Nietzsche. They headed out of the library and back out into the cold. She couldn't say anything but his name. Rory felt shanghaied; he never said why he came back. She didn't know what he wanted.

They couldn't just stand outside; the Lorelai scarf was pretty but not very practical. Against her better judgment, Rory lead Jess back to her dorm room. "Take a seat," Rory said, motioning to the couch. "Coffee?"

"Thanks," Jess said, watching her in her daily routine. Her mom got her a travel cup coffee maker, and she waited the few minutes for the two coffees – her back turned to Jess. "You're gonna have to talk sometime," Jess commented, "It's getting closer and closer to eight."

"Why are you so focused on my plans tonight?" Rory spat as she spun around. She paused, regretting her tone. "I'm sorry…"

Jess shook his head and accepted his coffee. Rory sat down on the opposite side of the couch, putting feet in between them. He wanted to close the gap, but he didn't know how Rory would react; she is the one that decided to sit so far away. "I don't want you to be late for _Logan_."

Rory stopped staring at her cup and turned to Jess. "What is your problem with Logan? You've never even met him."

"Are you dating?"

"Well…yeah…"

"That's my problem," Jess admitted. Their eyes had been locked since she turned to face him. He tried to apologize through his eyes, knowing he just made a mistake.

It took only a few seconds for his statement to register with her, but it felt like an eternity. "You… you… I can't believe you!"

Rory was obviously upset and it seemed like the gap between them grew a few more feet. She shriveled up away from him. "Rory," Jess whispered and moved closer to her. She just tried to get farther away from him. "Rory, please, give me a chance."

"You left. You left without saying anything," Rory said, tears forming in her eyes. "You left me with a broken heart and now you come back and you have a problem with my boyfriend." The tears were flowing freely now, and it was breaking Jess's heart.

He wanted to remind her that she said no to him, but that would just go against him. He wanted Rory back in his life. He wanted things to be like they were before. He stood up and walked across the room. Jess sighed and slouched down to the floor.

Rory slowly got her crying under control, taking long deep breaths. "You should go."

"Rory," Jess said, pleading.

"I've got your number. Go," Rory said, wiping her eyes. "I can't take any more today. I'll call you, I swear."

Jess nodded, knowing she'd keep her promise. "Don't forget." He stood up and headed towards the door. He paused, and looked back at Rory, who had started crying again. He silently closed her door, leaving her sobbing on the couch. Jess looked at the whiteboard that held both his writing and the note that she'd be with Logan. He erased his old note and wrote another.

**I'm sorry, 692-0064 – Dodger**

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Rory woke up to her cell ringing. She had a crick in her neck and she felt dehydrated. She looked at the caller id before answering, "Logan." She sat up on the couch and massaged her neck, not really ignoring the phone but putting it off until she didn't feel like complete shit.

"Hi," she said when she finally flipped it open.

"Hey Ace, where are you?" Logan said impatiently. "It's almost nine. Didn't I tell you eight?"

She sighed. "Yes, you said eight. I fell asleep. It's been a very long day."

"Well come over, Finn can fix all that."

"No Logan, I'm not in the mood," Rory was getting pissed off. Logan never wanted to leave her alone anymore. Since they started actually dating, the boy felt she didn't need any alone time.

"Ok, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I may not be as smart as you, but I'm not an idiot. What's wrong?"

"I'll talk to you later Logan," Rory's patience ran out and she hung up her cell. _This has been the day from hell._

Rory went into the bathroom and stripped down. Leaving her clothes in a pile that would probably aggravate Paris, she stared in the mirror. _I don't look the same. How is it possible to feel the same?_ After wrapping a towel around her, Rory went to her bedroom and got her iPod and portable speakers. She locked the main door to her dorm and went back to the bathroom. She put on some relaxing music and got in the tub to cry more.

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Jess didn't know what exactly he expected to happen when he came back for Rory. Ideally, she was supposed to immediately tell him that she loved him and they'd return to the relationship they once had. What happened was closer to the worst case scenario. He had so much to tell her, so much that he needed to get off his chest. He missed out on the last two years of her life, he needed to catch up.

His car idled in the parking lot of Rory's dorm for an hour, with him inside just thinking. Jess didn't know where to go. He hadn't called Luke, he didn't know anyone else in the entire state of Connecticut that didn't completely hate him. The one person he came back for wouldn't even let him explain himself.

Jess could see Rory crying still. He hated it when she cried. When he was gone, he blocked out the tears. He could only see her smile, hear her laugh. He remembered the books she read, he remembered everything about her. She saved his life, made him believe he could go on to do bigger and better things.

"Oh, screw it," Jess said aloud. "I hope he hasn't bought a gun in the last two years." He put his car into gear and headed on the very familiar road to Stars Hollow.

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**This didn't turn out as long as I had hoped, but please review! I thought it was a good end point, so here it is.**


	4. The Truth Comes Out Sorta

**A/N:** I just looked at my stats and a LOT of people had at least visited. Thank you! It's inspiration! I'm trying to make this a long one (I have a feeling I'm going to say that every time, and yet never get there).

**Disclaimer:** You don't know Jack! I mean, I don't own nothin'!

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"I hate you," Rory grumbled into the phone. There was no sunlight coming through the windows, it was way too early for a phone call.

"No you don't baby," Lorelai said apologetically. "Did I wake you?"

Rory rubbed the sleep from her eyes and didn't even try to think of something witty, "Ya huh."

"Well wake up, I've got news."

"News?" Rory sat up, slightly intrigued.

"There's my little reporter," Lorelai said and laughed. "You won't _believe_ who just showed up in town."

Rory sighed and feel back into bed. "Just? He left hours ago."

"What are you talking about Ror?"

"Jess," Rory said, wanting to crawl into a hole. "Jess left HOURS ago. How did he just get there?"

"How could you not tell me!"

"Mom, I'm tired. I've obviously had the day from HELL; can I just talk to you tomorrow? When it's daylight?"

"You didn't tell me!"

"I promise I will Mom. Promise. Just let me get some sleep first. I don't have enough strength to do this right now. I'll call you as soon as I wake up, I swear."

"I believe you," Lorelai said with a sigh. "Go back to sleep."

"I love you Mom."

"I love you too," Lorelai said and hung up.

Rory rolled over and plugged her phone back into the charger. The clock on her bed stand informed her that she was wrong. It wasn't early; it was late…Late at night. It was close to two in the morning. After her bath, Rory had gone straight to bed. It took a while for Logan to give up on calling, and she finally fell asleep.

It wasn't so easy to sleep this time. Lorelai had stirred up the drama again. It wasn't her fault, but it still affected Rory. She lied in bed thinking. She couldn't get her mind off of Jess. Sleep wasn't going to come again; she was doomed to be up all night.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lorelai opened her phone and before she could even say hello, Rory started talking. "He just showed up. He was gone forever and he just _showed up_. He wrote his number on my door and I met him at the coffee stand. I showed him the library and made him smell Nietzsche and….and he's jealous of Logan. I yelled and I cried and I kicked him out." She finally took a breath. "He looked sad."

"Oh honey," Lorelai said, hearing her cry again. "Shh…It'll be ok."

"How Mom?"

"We both know he'll be here long enough to amp up the drama, and then he'll get bored and take off again," Lorelai felt she had to be upfront about the situation before Rory got in over her head again. "It's Jess…It's what he does."

"But…"

"Oh Rory," Lorelai said, starting to understand. "Don't do this to yourself. You can't change him."

"I don't want to change him; I think he's already changed. He didn't argue with me, he just let me yell and cry. That wouldn't have happened before."

"So how do you know he hasn't changed his feelings for you? How do you know that he still wants you?"

"It's Jess. I know," Rory said with finality.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jess sat in his car again, outside of the Gilmore's house. He had to smoke and he needed to get away from Lorelai's prying eyes. Luke went crazy when he showed up. Luke took him aside to talk, not to listen. He didn't want to know anything about Jess, or at least he didn't ask.

Lorelai and Luke were engaged. They were living together in her house. They'd been together for a while. Jess had to fight the urge to say, "I told you so." He could see their blatant attraction for each other before he left. _If they finally made it together, maybe we could._ He thought about the situation with Rory. They had been through so much, maybe the time apart could help.

The only thing that was really bugging him was that Logan guy. Rory was really touchy when Jess brought him up. Was Logan another Dean? Was he some guy who was jealous and controlling? Did he deserve her? He took a break from asking impossible questions and looked at the clock on his dashboard.

3:30. If he left then, it'd take an hour to get to Yale and she wouldn't even be up for another 4 hours after that at least. Jess didn't know when her classes were…or even if she was still planning on being a journalist. He finished his cigarette and turned the car off. He hoped Luke and Lorelai had gone back to sleep.

Jess let himself back into the house and went to an all-too-familiar room. It was still the same bed, the same bookshelves, desk, and dresser. He knew Rory didn't like change, but this was crazy. He stood in front of the bookshelves, glad to see that one thing had changed. The books had gotten thicker and more complex. A smile came to his face when he saw Oliver Twist. That book would never be the same again.

Jess took the book and lied down on her bed. He started from the beginning, coaxing himself to sleep in the room of the woman he still loved.

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When Lorelai went down to her kitchen in the morning, she half expected Jess to be at the table, enjoying a Pop Tart or something. She heard him come in last night after she had gotten off the phone with Rory. What she wasn't expecting though was to walk into the kitchen, glance into Rory's room, and see Jess asleep on her bed clutching a book.

Lorelai stood at the door, leaning against the frame. Apparently her daughter was right. Rory was the only one that understood Jess and that's probably the way it would always be. Jess grunted and rolled over, knocking Lorelai out of her trance. She left the doorframe and started a pot of coffee.

The toaster dinged, signaling that her toaster strudel was ready. Lorelai finished her coffee, got up, and saw Jess standing against the doorframe, exactly where she stood while watching him. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," Jess mumbled. He sat down at the table and rested his head on his hands. Lorelai placed the toaster strudel in front of him and put another one in for her. She sat down and studied him as he focused intently on his food. "Icing?" he asked once he realized what it was.

"A-ha," Lorelai laughed, "You are about to learn a trick of the trade. Eat, then learn." She took her strudel out and savored the sweet taste. "I said eat," she repeated when he hesitated. Lorelai grabbed two icing packets out of the box and handed him one. "Now's the time for icing."

Jess raised his eyebrow questioningly. He always knew Rory got her craziness from her mother but this was insane. Lorelai squeezed the icing right onto her tongue, like you would do with a whipped cream container. "No wonder it took so long for you and Luke to get together, with a mouth like that." Lorelai just stuck her tongue out at him, icing and all. He flinched and handed her his icing. "I'll learn the trick later."

"Your loss is my gain," she said and squeezed the other packet in. "This should last me at least until I get to work." Lorelai looked at her watch. "Which I actually have to get going to. You're welcome to stay…" she offered.

"I've got some..uh..stuff to do," Jess said hesitantly. "I'll be back though."

Lorelai studied him before she headed to the back door. "Noon to four."

"What?"

"She's got class 12-3 and spends at least an hour at the Yale Daily News."

"Oh…"

"I'll see you for dinner," Lorelai said and left. Apparently Rory was never wrong.

XXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't until she was coming back from breakfast when Rory read the not on the door. She was thinking about the combination of Fruit Loops and Fruity Pebbles that she had when she looked up and saw the writing. It was less of a shock than the first time he left his number but it was still a shock. _I should have seen it coming._ He signed it "Dodger." _I can't believe he remembers that…that was four years ago._

Rory left the note on the door and let herself in. Paris was in the common room with Doyle watching the morning news. Paris had been spending less time with Rory recently, but then again Rory was spending almost all of her time with Logan and his friends. She felt as if they had lost base, she needed her friend back, a friend that wasn't a Logan fan.

"Hey," she said as she opened the door to her bedroom. Rory gasped and started to back up.

"Logan's here," Paris said around 10 seconds too late.

"Hey Ace," Logan said as he stood up. "You ignored me all night, care to talk?"

"There's not enough time," Rory said and pushed past him into her room.

"You don't have class until noon, it's only ten. There's plenty of time," Logan said, grabbing her arms. She didn't struggle to get away from him but she wouldn't look into his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to spend some time at the paper before my class. I didn't get to work on my article at all last night." Logan let go of her and she packed up her things for class. "I've got to go."

"What's wrong? What happened last night?"

"I have to go," Rory replied, avoiding his questions.

His hands were back on her arms, not letting her out of the room. "Tell me," Logan demanded.

"Just forget about it, I'll call you later," she said and looked down at his hands. "Now let me go, I have an article I need to do."

Logan shook his head and let her go, watching as she sashayed out of the dorm.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rory hadn't originally planned on spending time at the YDN before her classes. She had forgotten most of the material for her article back in her dorm, but she couldn't go back there now. How was she supposed to know if Logan was still there or not?

With a sigh, Rory sat at her desk and wasted two hours before her classes. She thought about Jess the whole time. She thought about them for the majority of her class time as well, and then felt guilty because she wasn't paying attention to her professors and because of Logan. How was she supposed to tell Logan what was going on when she didn't know herself?

Rory got coffee and ice cream for lunch, not the smartest choice for Connecticut's fall weather. She didn't have an appetite for real food, but she had to fill at least two of the Gilmore Girl's food groups. She drank the coffee first so it wouldn't get cold, and then ate the ice cream on the way back to her dorm. _At least I don't have to worry about it melting, _she thought. _I just wish I could feel my tongue._

By the time Rory reached the outside of Branford Hall, she was seriously regretting the choice of ice cream. She pushed her way inside, fighting the cold and other students. She jumped a few feet into the air when she saw her door. "I'm going to have a heart attack if I get any more surprises today," she said louder than she meant to.

"You're back early," he said behind a copy of Oliver's Twist. "I wasn't expecting you for another forty-five minutes."

**It really did turn out longer this time! Yippy! I hope everyone likes it! Review please; tell me what you wanna see. I'll try to get it in (if you want to see something small, I will do my absolute best. I need those little bits of inspiration).**


	5. Stupid Feet!

**A/N:** Wow, it's been like review city! I love it people, keep it coming. Also, as a side note, if anybody's read the oneshot I wrote…do you think I should write what I think the rest of the book is? I'm may allude to it here, so I think it'd be cool to have it. I think I may have a proofreader, because I am much too lazy to do it for myself. I will learn more about this later. Sorry for the mile long A/N. Back to the show!

**Disclaimer:** :( The characters, despite how hot and sexy they are, are not mine. Thank you Amy for picking such a great cast! Bring Jess back for good!

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Jess had been sitting outside of Rory's dorm for only 15 minutes before she got home. It was so funny to see her jump like a basketball star, and they said white women can't jump! He showed up early so that there was no possible chance of missing her.

"How did you know when I'd be home?"

"Your mom."

"Dirty."

"You two are way too alike, you know that?" Jess asked her, moving away so she could open the door.

"I know, Dodger," Rory replied. "Did you think I wouldn't remember? Or that I wouldn't recognize your handwriting?" She held the door open for him, just going with the flow.

"I knew," he said and stopped not far into the common room. Rory closed the door behind him and turned around to find Jess staring at her. "Hi," he finally said after a long silence.

"Hey," she dropped her bag to the floor and froze.

Jess took a couple steps forward and stood within arms reach of Rory. She didn't move like the way before on the couch. She didn't flinch or say anything. Jess had trapped her in between him and the door, staring him in the eyes.

"Jess," Rory said and finally blinked.

"Shh," Jess said and moved in. Their lips touched and he pushed her up against the door. Her hands went to his head, pulling him closer. He wrapped his arms around her back and started walking backwards. Rory opened her eyes enough to make sure she didn't run into anything and stopped when they got to the couch.

"Mmmm," Rory hummed, trying to talk without stopping the kiss. Jess removed his lips just far enough for her to speak. "Couch good," she said and giggled before he started kissing her again.

Jess nibbled on her lower lip and she pulled away to kiss his neck. She backed up him so that his knees were against the armrest. He opened his eyes when he felt the couch up against his legs. His eyes were questioning. Rory laughed as much as she could without parting herself from him and pushed him over.

They had to stop the kiss when Jess toppled over onto the couch. He almost fell off the edge, but managed to hold on. "You're crazy!" He exclaimed, even though he had already come to that consensus years ago.

Instead of walking around to the front of the couch and just sitting down, Rory crawled onto it, working her way up from his feet to his head. "I never stopped wanting you," she said as she kissed his neck. "Not even when I hated you did I ever stop loving you."

"Ditto," he said even though it was corny.

Rory sat back and laughed, "I didn't coin you as a _Ghost_ person." All Jess could focus on was her hair and her gorgeous blue eyes that held more wisdom since the last time he got to lock eyes with her. He never stopped loving her either…_but are you capable of falling in love again even though you're still in love?_ Even though Jess figured Rory knew exactly how he felt already, he still wanted to tell her out loud.

"Rory?" A voice on the other side of the room took her name right out of his mouth. Jess could see her freeze up, the laughter and enjoyment in her body gone. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. Even though she wasn't looking at him, Jess knew the excitement wasn't there anymore.

"Rory? What's going on here?" the voice asked again. Someone had opened the door after they collapsed on the couch. He couldn't see the guy because the back of the couch was blocking his view. Jess had the distinct feeling the person could see him though…his feet were dangling off the edge of the couch.

XXXXXXXXXX

Logan was standing in her doorway. She was straddling Jess and Logan was staring at her. He probably couldn't see Jess, but she could see his feet in her peripheral vision. Logan, obviously, didn't look happy.

"Rory, what the _fuck_ is going on here," Logan yelled loud enough for the hold state of Connecticut to hear. She could feel Jess flinch and tense up. Rory shook her head 'no', she knew what he was thinking. He wanted to run. She wasn't going to let him run.

With her mouth still stuck open, Rory just stared at Logan. She couldn't have imagined what was about to happen. Jess used a non-visible hand to touch her leg. Logan hadn't left his position at the door. She looked down at Jess, confirming to Logan that there was definitely something going on. Jess looked scared, but he wasn't one to stay scared for long. She grabbed his hand and he pulled himself up.

Rory didn't think Jess meant to do exactly what he did. With the position Rory was on his body, Jess's head only came to around chest-level on her. Logan was at the couch before Jess even had the time to turn around. Rory froze again. She still hadn't said anything, she had no clue what words would make any difference in the situation. Her hand was still safely inside Jess's. He hadn't stopped squeezing it since he grabbed her.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion for Rory. She could hear Logan talking again but couldn't make out the words. Jess stared at her, mouth tightly shut. She glanced back over to Logan and could see the rage in his eyes. _This is not good._

**Cliffhanger heaven! HA! Thanks for the reviews everyone, keep 'em coming! I hope this chapter is to your liking, lemme know!**


	6. Bigger Man

**A/N:** I drove you guys crazy with the ending of chapter 5, didn't I? The reviews were amazing, don't stop! I was going to start writing this right after I posted chapter 5, but I had complete writer's block. I also don't want to write anyone in a bad way even though it's inevitable. I made a Rory/Jess music video. Please go see and you can review it here. dlwainwright(dot)iweb(dot)bsu(dot)edu(slash)dl(dot)html. The music is Ben Lee – Gamble Everything for Love. _**EDIT: **You might need to update codecs to see the video. This makes me sad because most people are probably too lazy to do so. It is pretty cool, at least I think so (and I'm entitled to since I am the maker). I apologize if it doesn't work but in any case, go download (or better yet, buy!) Ben Lee's album "Awake is the New Sleep". Do it!_

**Disclaimer:** Nothing is mine, I steal!

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Jess looked up at Rory, who appeared very shell-shocked. She wasn't moving or talking and she was barely even breathing. The only movement she did was to turn back and forth between him and the other guy, who Jess assumed had to be Logan. Jess couldn't help thinking that if he was the other guy in the situation, someone would probably be bleeding. But that was the old Jess. "Rory," he said and she slowly turned back to face him. She looked down into his eyes and he could see she was scared.

"Don't you say anything," Logan spat at Jess. He turned to Rory, "Get off of him." The anger was filling his eyes, and Jess became very protective of Rory. He didn't know if Logan had ever hit her, but there was no way he was going to let it happen.

Jess pried his fingers apart from hers and wrapped his arms around her back, Logan just staring in bewilderment. He stood up slowly and Rory's legs were limp on his sides.

"What do you think you're doing?" Logan asked and finally walked around to the other side of the couch.

Jess laid Rory down on the couch, she looked like she had turned to jelly. "Stay away from her, this is between you and me." He put one hand out to keep Logan far enough away from him and then started walking. Logan backed up until they were on the other side of the couch again, near the door.

Jess knew he was testing Logan's patience, but Logan moved where he led him. They were positioned so that Rory couldn't see them, even if she woke up from her comatose state.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Logan yelled at Jess. "Why the fuck do you think you should protect Rory? She's MY girlfriend!"

"I'm Jess and if you knew Rory at all, you would know who I am!" Jess's patience was quickly fleeting. "I love her and I can treat her better than you ever could!"

"You don't even know me," Logan said and shoved Jess, ignoring his still outreached arm. "You don't know what's good for her." He shoved Jess again.

"I know exactly what is good for her, and trust me," Jess said and looked down at Logan's hands which had grasped his shirt collar. "You do NOT want to be doing that."

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" Logan pushed Jess up against Paris' door. "Or are you a _pacifist_."

He said pacifist like it was an insult, "I'm just past my fighting years, I'm not 15 anymore." Jess just let Logan rough-handle him. He obviously knew nothing about Rory. If she was around them right now, she's be yelling at Logan and praising Jess. This was the best way of any to prove that he'd changed. "I'm not going to say that I'm not going to take Rory away. She deserves more than you. I'm going to be with her, and the more you fight me, the more you hurt me, the more she's going to want to be with me."

"Well if I'm going to lose her anyways," Logan said and took his hands off Jess's collar, "I better go out in style."

_This guy got into Yale? Thank God for money, right? _Jess wanted to shake his head at the stupidity of Logan's statement but he was incapacitated by a blow to the cheek. His face stung but he didn't fall to the ground. He was too strong to let Logan do this to him. Jess got a knee to the groin and fell.

After a kick to the stomach, Jess could see Logan walk towards the couch. His vision was blurred by the involuntary tears and he wanted nothing more than to be by Rory. He could hear Logan yelling and couldn't tell if Rory was saying anything. Jess focused all his attention trying to figure out what they were saying before he passed out from the pain.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rory heard her phone ringing in her bag near the door. She opened her eyes and was thankful to not see Logan standing over her still. She had laid there on the couch for what seemed like an eternity, staring at Logan. He had yelled at her and shook her and she didn't react at all. She hadn't really reacted to anything since Logan first came into the room.

Her phone kept ringing, she needed to get up and answer it. Rory didn't know how much time had passed since Logan left. She hadn't seen Jess either. She couldn't hear anything. She needed to move.

_Answer the phone. Check on Jess. Just get up, _she thought. Her phone stopped ringing by the time she managed to move her arms. Rory grasped the back of the couch and propped herself up. Her body was deadweight. When she looked over to her bag that had started ringing again, she saw Jess. He was passed out on the floor in front of Paris' door. He was literally passed out, not just in shock.

Rory's heart raced and her body sprung into motion. She checked to make sure he was still breathing and went to answer her phone. She didn't even look at the caller id before answering. "Oh my god," she said, seeing the bruise on Jess's face.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Lorelai said on the other end. "Rory?"

"Mom? Mom!"

"Rory, baby, what's wrong, say something!"

"Jess is unconscious. His face is bruised and he's all curled up. What am I supposed to do Mom?" Rory's mind was running a mile a minute. She couldn't think clearly.

"Is he breathing?"

"Of course he's breathing! Do you think I'd be here if he wasn't breathing?"

"Honey, lay him down somewhere. Get him off of the floor. Keep him on his side and be gentle with him," Lorelai advised her daughter.

"Should I take him to the hospital?" Rory hated hospitals but she had to take care of him.

"Is he bleeding?"

"No, he's just bruised. There's no blood anywhere."

"Get him on the couch or your bed or somewhere. Wherever you think he'd be the most comfortable. He'll wake up soon, I promise sweety."

"Mom?" Rory said right before hanging up, "I'm scared."

"I know."

XXXXXXXXXX

Jess woke up to excruciating pain. It was dark and he couldn't tell where he was. He could only remember bits and pieces from the fight that had rendered him unconscious. He was protecting Rory, being the bigger man. Now he felt like the weaker man. His face was throbbing, his groin painfully numb, and his stomach felt like someone had hit him with a bag of bricks. The pain in his stomach was made worse by the arm that was draped around him, until he realized who the arm belonged to.

"Rory," he asked quietly. "Are you awake?"

"Jess?" Rory pulled him tighter to her and he grunted with pain. "I'm so sorry!" She took her arm off him and kept it to herself.

"No," he said stubbornly. "Don't let go." She tentatively put her arm back around him. "I'd rather be in pain than to not be touching you."

"Jess?"

"Rory?"

"Why'd you come back?"

"You."

"Just me?"

"Just you."

**Ok people, I know the last section was really small…but after sitting here for an hour with Rory's question, I just couldn't figure out where to go. I'm guessing it's going to get fluffier from here on. Probably naughty fluff from the way my mind's going. Go to my music video (link above). Tell me what you want to see, and I can pretty much assure you it'll be there. (Wow, another long A/N…I'll shut up now.)**


	7. Sexual Tension

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews! I'm a review whore!

**Disclaimer**: As much as I wished I owned Milo, I don't own him or anyone else from the show.

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Rory waited until Jess was asleep and peaceful before she moved. It was past one in the morning, but she had to call her mom back. She dialed Lorelai's cell, trying not to wake Luke up so soon before he had to work. "Mom?"

"It's so early baby," Lorelai complained. "He's ok, right?"

"He's in a lot of pain, but he's asleep now."

"Like we should be."

"Mom, he said he came here for me."

"Rory…You already knew that."

"Yeah, but he told me," Rory justified her repetitiveness. "He told me I'm the only reason he came back. Me, nothing else."

"He loves you babe."

"I know…"

"And since you've so kindly woken me up, why don't you tell me what's going on with Logan."

"Over. Done. Kaput. There's no way I could be with him after what he did to Jess, and I haven't even heard Jess's side of the story. I mean, come on. Logan left without a scratch and Jess passed out from pain. There can't be much else to the story."

"Don't jump to conclusions…But you're probably right," Lorelai admitted. She was right earlier about Jess, she probably was now. "So what's going to happen now?"

Rory looked over at Jess in her bed, "I don't know. I'll tell you as soon as I find out."

"Come home for dinner tomorrow. Jess was supposed to come tonight. You could talk on the drive here."

"I was just home…"

"Rory. When you made him leave, he came back here. He left here to go see you again. There has been a lot of commuting going on, a little more won't hurt. You need the car time to talk. Believe it or not, this may be what Jess wants to consider home."

Rory hadn't thought of it that way. Jess wanting to live in Stars Hollow? Permanently? "Why are you always right?"

"I don't know, why are you?"

"Thanks Mom."

"Goodnight," Lorelai said with a yawn. "We'll see you tomorrow, I love you."

"Love you," Rory said and hung up. Jess looked so content in her bed. The moonlight drifted in from the window and illuminated his face. The bruise was encompassing. It spread from his eye all the way down his cheek. She hated Logan for having the capability to hurt him like this; hurt her like this.

Rory covered Jess with an extra comforter, not wanting to wake him up to get under the covers. She changed into her pajamas, wondering if she should do something with Jess's clothes. She decided against it and instead of crawling in behind him, being his protector, and ultimately causing him a little more physical pain, she curled up in front of him. Careful not to push her back against his stomach, she left as little room as possible in between them. She could feel his breath on her neck and she maneuvered his arm to be over her, holding her. This is the way they were supposed to be.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jess woke up with the sun in his eyes. He was snuggled close to Rory, his arm around her. His head was behind hers, he could smell her fruity shampoo. "Wake up sleepyhead."

'It's early," Rory muttered. The Gilmore women were never morning people, he didn't expect that to change.

"You don't know that for a fact. You made no move to look at the time," he said and laughed a bit, grimacing from the pain. He really took a beating the night before. _Why didn't I stand up for myself?_ He thought. _Oh yeah…I get the girl._ Jess smiled and held Rory tighter.

"Mmm. Let's just sleep a little bit more."

Jess scanned the room for a clock, moving as little as possible. "When do you have class?"

"Never, go back to sleep," Rory said crankily. She pulled his arm up to her chest and snuggled up with it.

"What the hell happened last night! There is a dent in my door and the room is a mess! It looks like the Tasmanian devil made his way through!" Paris yelled after opening Rory's door without knocking.

"Nevermind," Rory whispered to Jess, giving him his arm back. "Paris…Do you know what doors are for? They're for KNOCKING." She sat up in bed, forcing Jess to roll onto his back.

When Paris saw Jess, her eyes bugged out of her head. "Morning Paris," he said and grinned. He could just imagine how he looked with the amount of pain he was in.

"You're, uh…Rory..uh.." Paris started to back her way out of the room. "I'll just…"

Rory leaned back and kissed him before hopping out of bed. "You better have fresh coffee since you woke me up." She pushed Paris out into the common room and glanced back at him before closing the door.

Slightly confused by her kiss, Jess stared at the door for a while. He wasn't tired at all so he bared the pain and sat up. This room wasn't familiar to him like the one in Stars Hollow. The books were the same, covering as much space as they could. Her laptop sat on the oak desk and pictures of Lorelai and Lane were next to it.

There were a few posters on the walls and her open closet was a mess. The vanity held a lot more makeup than he remembered seeing back in high school, yet he didn't remember her wearing any the past few days.

Rory walked back into the room when he had finally managed to stand up. He was still in the same clothes from the night before. His jeans were uncomfortable and his shirt was wrinkled. "Should I go? Is she mad?" Jess asked, referring to Paris.

"No and no," she stood in front of him. "Definitely no." Rory leaned forwards and stood on the balls of her feet to get tall enough to kiss him. He leaned down and she relaxed, putting her hands on his face. "I guess that part still works…"

"It's like riding a bike," Jess joked.

"Great, so now I'm a bike?" She leaned her head to the side, taunting him. He reached around her waist and puller her to him.

"You knew what I meant," he said and kissed her deeply. When Rory pulled away after a few minutes he laughed. "I see you got the breathing thing under control."

"Ha ha. Remember asking me about class? Yeah, well I have to go do that now," she said and went to her closet. Jess sat back down on the bed and watched her rummage through the clothes. She picked out jeans and a long sleeved t-shit and started to get changed when she noticed him watching. "Some privacy?"

"I'll close one eye, that way I can't tell how far away you are."

"How is that supposed to give me privacy?"

"So that when I reach out, I might not be able to grab you?"

Rory just nodded, not acknowledging his cocky answer. She faced the closet and took off her tank top. She quickly put on her shirt and turned back to Jess. "Please?"

"You think I'm not going to see your underwear any time soon? Plus, those shorts are so small that it's barely anything more than your undies can be," he smirked and leaned back in her bed to watch the show. He didn't mean for his comment to sound so smug, but it was the truth. He saw her reaction and grinned. "Fine, I'll close my eyes."

"Thank you."

Jess closed his eyes and struggled not to open them. It had been so long since he'd seen her body. He got to hold it, but had yet to see it recently. His eyes stayed closed easily now, because he was remembering the way they were before. That brought a smile to his face.

"Hey!" Rory squeeked when she saw his smile. "Are you peeking?"

"Wouldn't think of it, I've got enough in here to last me a while…"

"That's wrong on so many levels…but you can open your eyes now."

Jess looked at Rory and laughed at how similar she looked to his image of her in his memories. "What's on the agenda today?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood just a little bit more. "Any fun classes?"

"The only one you'd like to sit in on is in a couple hours. Go to the cafeteria around the corner and get breakfast," she said and handed him her id and keys. "Just promise you'll be back before noon."

"I promise."

"And don't scare Paris too much more… She's still relatively confused about what's going on here."

"As am I," he said, hinting.

"That's half the fun," Rory said with a smile. "Be here at noon." She grabbed her bag and walked out of the dorm.

Jess just smiled and leaned back into the bed again. He closed his eyes, not to sleep but to watch the home movies in his mind. _I can't wait to make more of these_.

**I'm going to make these ANs longer than the ones up top from now on because 1) I don't want to delay the story and 2) I think about things after I've written. I love reviews, as I said above. I don't care if they're anon, but if you post a signed review, chances are 9/10 that I'll reply. ****Oh yeah, I'm thinking of posting on a schedule because people are all like "update asap!" on the chapters that I posted like an hour before. I don't know though, I like updating whenever I feel like. Anyone have an opinion on that? The next chapter will be posted around an hour after this because it's super duper short. I explain more at the end of that chapter. :D Review pweasee!**


	8. Home? Where's that?

**A/N:** On with the show!

**Disclaimer:** The ideas presented are of my own sick and twisted mind. It just happens that they are with already made characters.

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They left the classroom in a mutual silence. These were an everyday occurrence for Rory, but the experience was new to Jess. He hadn't been to a class since he dropped out of high school. Not that he wanted to talk about that, but it's the only thing that came to mind.

"I can't believe they learn you things like that," Jess said, feeling slightly stupid.

"Learn you? You need to go back to school mister!" Rory laughed at his obvious error. The mediaeval lit class must have overwhelmed him a bit. "I knew you'd enjoy that."

"Enjoy? I never felt like I could be out-read, but I guess I was wrong," Jess shook his head and suddenly stopped walking.

Rory was startled and turned to see him standing a few feet behind her. "What's wrong? Did you really not like it?"

"No..it's just…" Jess was at a loss for words, something that didn't typically happen around Rory. They at least repeated the same word over and over, now he couldn't even get one out.

"Jess?" Rory sounded genuinely worried. "Come on, lets go back to my room and talk."

Jess nodded and they walked in silence back to her dorm. "There's too much to talk about," he said when they arrived in her room.

"I know…" Rory understood that at least. "But we'll have to sometime. We're going to Stars Hollow for dinner since you missed out last night. Mom said we should talk in the car, when neither of us could run away."

"Why do you two always have to be logical and right?" Jess wasn't as fed up as he sounded, he was just annoyed because he didn't think of that first. "Remind me to apologize for not showing up, I completely forgot about it while I was passed out."

"I think she understands…"

"Well…at least we're talking now. Although it's not what we need to be talking about."

"No, it's not, is it?" They sat down on the couch and faced each other. "Wait, is Paris here?" Rory didn't want a repeat of the morning.

"The note on the door just said 'Doyles'," Jess commented. "I guess that's a no?"

"Yeah..Doyle is her man."

"She snagged someone?"

"See, these are the things we need to talk about," Rory reasoned.

Jess shook his head, "As interesting as Paris is, I think we've just covered everything important about her. What we _need_ to talk about is _us_."

"Well let's just be serious, huh."

"You know what I mean…" Jess paused, breathing in deeply. "I don't have any clue what's going on here. I don't know what's happening with us, I'm not even sure there is an 'us' for something to happen to. I know I want you Rory. I know I've wanted you since the first time I saw you sitting there in your room, since the first time you gave me a chance. I fell harder when we were together and I've never recovered. I don't want to recover. I want you and I want it to be like it was, but better."

"Whoa there buddy," Rory said, trying to lighten the mood. "Breathe."

"I want to know what's happened to you since I've been gone. I want you to know what's happened to me. I want to know what's going to happen with US. I am determined for there to be an us, a future for the two of us together. We can't do that if we don't know what happened to each other since I've been gone. I don't care if you've been an ax murderer, just tell me where the bodies are and I'll be sure to keep your secret. I will listen to you and take care of you and I just want to be WITH you."

Rory slouched back into the couch. "Jess…"

"Rory."

"There's so much. An hour's ride to Stars Hollow won't be enough time to even cover the week since you asked me to go away with you."

"So we'll start on the drive there," Jess said, standing up. "We can talk on the ride home and we can talk before we go to sleep and we can talk when we wake up...between classes, during meals. I don't care when we do, we have to say everything. I want to know every single thing, I don't care how bad you think it may be."

"Don't you have somewhere to go back to eventually? New York? California?" Rory sounded standoffish.

_I'm scaring her. I am bearing my soul and it's scaring her._ "You want me to go? I don't have anywhere _to_ go. I left everything behind, not that there was much to leave behind. I left New York, there was nothing keeping me there. Do you know how many times I came to New Haven before I finally got up the nerve to leave my number? I didn't know how you'd react."

"Jess, you know me. You knew how I would react, that's why you left your number. In the back of your mind, you knew that I would call and that something like this would happen."

"I wasn't planning a beatdown, that's for sure," Jess said and touched his bruised face. "But you're right." He paused. "See! You are always right."

"I haven't always been that way; it's one of those things that happened in the years since you left."

"Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's go home," Jess said, not realizing his choice of words.

"Home?" Rory raised her eyebrow, questioningly.

"Stars Hollow," Jess clarified.

Rory managed a little smile. "That's home?"

"It is now."

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**Ok.. I know this was a short chapter. I felt that the closeness of the posts between chapters 7 and 8 would make up for this one being so short. I really didn't want to put anything else in with this chapter. I felt this conversation held so much information that it needed to be by itself. There are also a few hints in there on what's going to happen in the future. Some are very, very, very blatantly obvious, but I think one was a little trickier. Isn't that fun?**

**Review please! Reviews make the (fanfic) world go round!**


	9. The Talk, Part 1

**Disclaimer:** Characters be not mine. But .:rowr:. Milo!

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Rory packed up a bag of clothes while Jess was brewing another pot of coffee. She packed some makeup and pajamas just in case they stayed in Stars Hollow overnight. "I'll be out in a minute," she called out to the common room. She stared at her closet, figuring out what to bring. She assumed they'd stay the night, because the drive home would just be too tense.

What did he mean that Stars Hollow is his home? Rory confused herself by thinking. She was dreading the drive and the conversation. Jess was so serious. He really did want to know everything. Every single thing. She had to tell him about Dean. She had to tell him about Logan and their casual relationship. She had even more to say about Dean. So much had happened in the last two years. Would he talk first? She knew he wouldn't, he'd want to know about her first. In a few minutes she'd have to start the long story of the past.

Jess came over to her room with two travel mugs of coffee. "You ready?" Rory nodded and swung her bag over her shoulder. Leaving her laptop and responsibilities behind, they left her dorm to Jess's car. "Why the bag?"

"Just in case," she said and got in the car. "Your stuff is in here, right?"

"Yeah, I didn't exactly have an opportunity last night to bring in anything."

"I'm so sorry about that," she said, looking over at him. "I didn't expect him to be so mean…"

"So he's never hit you before?" Jess looked over to her for a bit and then focused on the road.

"No, never…."

"Maybe we should start when I left?" Jess suggested.

"Jess…How am I supposed to start this?"

"Just start talking? Or do you want me to ask you questions?"

"I'd rather just start talking. Why don't you just… uh… Can you not talk unless I ask? Let me know you're listening, but don't butt in? There so much that I know you're not going to like and I really don't want to argue right now."

"I promise," Jess said and raised his pinky up to her. He didn't look away from the road, but she knew what he meant. She grabbed his pinky with hers.

"You're great," Rory laughed and leaned back in the seat. "Where to start, where to start…"

"When I left?"

"When you went to New York after the accident? When you went to California? Or when you came back for you mom's wedding and asking me to run away with you?"

"Rory…"

"You promised!" Rory almost yelled. The tight confines of the car made her speech more vivid. "You know what happened after the accident. You didn't say goodbye so I missed my mom's graduation to go see you. I knew I liked you. I can't say now if I loved you yet. I was still with Dean and I acted like nothing had happened…until Sookie's wedding. You told me you were moving back. I knew it was because of me. You moved back to a town I thought you hated because of _me._ You should've just said you loved me."

"Rory. I know all this. I did love you. I was playing the revel without a cause, how was I supposed to say it?"

Rory sighed, "You really suck at this not talking thing. When did you get so vocal?"

"I'm not going to let you ramble to the point where I turn out to be the devil," he retorted.

"Fine, I'll start when you went to California. Answer me this: that was you on the phone at my graduation, wasn't it? You heard my speech?"

"It was more of a rant, but I heard it."

Rory ignored his comment, "And you didn't say anything because…?"

"Because I let you down. You were right. I could've done it better. I didn't say goodbye, again. But unfortunately Rory, you don't know what I was going through. I was confused, I wish I hadn't left. I didn't want to be like Jimmy but I felt that was all I could be. You were the only person that thought differently. When you're told something so many times, it's hard to change that image of yourself."

Rory leaned back in her seat, "Jess, I know. I know what you went through was touch. I would've been there for you, but you didn't give me a chance."

Jess nodded. "I know I didn't and I'm sorry. I guess I'll shut up now."

"Good timing, because I'm sorry too, but for what's coming up." Jess looked to her for a second before turning back to the road. He nodded. _This is going to be so hard…_

"You went to California; I went to Europe with my mom. When I came back, Dean was engaged. Everything was different. I went to Yale and I was alone. I had nobody there for me. I still had Lorelai, but I needed something else. Now I know I wish I had you. You were different from Dean. You read and knew about music and movies. We always had something to talk about, but we didn't always have to talk…" Rory took a breath and thought she heard Jess say something. "Jess?"

"We were perfect," he said louder. "I know that now. I've never met anyone else like you."

"Same here," she whispered.

"I'm sorry… I interrupted again. I have a feeling you're not done yet, you're not crying…I know you, you're probably going to cry," he said when he noticed the look of questioning on her face.

Rory shook her head. "We're almost there. I need you to not be driving when I tell you what comes next. What happened after you came to Yale," she paused, "And yes, there will be tears."

"Please don't cry," he said, and held her hand. "I'll talk until we can get out."

"I'll give you the same courtesy you gave me."

"So I don't get any either?"

"Just talk, Jess."

"I knew I was in the wrong when I came to Yale like that. I was pathetic and blinded by stupidity and love. California made me realize that I really loved you, that I needed you, and that I had to be with you. I came back for Mom's wedding... I got this book, from Luke actually. That book…"

"What book?"

"You Deserve Love," Jess said quietly.

"You didn't…" Rory said, stifling a laugh.

"Hey, don't mock it til you've tried it! It made me realize how stupid I had been, how I really did need you. That's why I came to you, to Yale. Living without you wasn't really living."

"That's sweet," she said and giggled. "You _Deserve_ Love."

"You are so lucky we're around two minutes away."

Rory looked up and realized they were entering Stars Hollow. "Just one more question before we get out of the car."

"Shoot."

"Where'd you go when I said no?"

"New York."

"I thought so. I looked for you."

"I guess I wasn't ready to be found…"

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**Awe, how cute? I'm sorry I didn't get the real Dean fiasco in this one. Once again, I felt that the entire conversation warranted its own chapter. But you gotta admit, there is a whole lot of information in this conversation. Thank you to everyone who so kindly reviewed. I'm trying to get a stockpile of chapters going so that I can update all the time without rushing, but it's turning out to be hard. You guys are just so greedy! JK! I love posting, I can't horde all this goodness for myself.**

**I'm looking for at least 5 morereviews before I post the next chapter. I may not hold to that, but I'm going to try! Review, and I love you!**


	10. The Talk, Part 2

**Tiny A/N: **5 reviews later, here you go! The Declaration of Independence is at the end of this chapter, this is just a slap on the back for those 5 reviewers.

**Disclaimer**: Characters and other such stuff is not mine, the situation is.

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Jess got out of the car and went around to open Rory's door. She followed him up to Lorelai's house. They stood on the porch and Jess caught Rory staring at him. "Rory?"

"Oh, yeah," she said and tentatively opened the door. "Mom? We're here." She walked in and he followed her inside, closing the door behind them.

"Hi sweetie!" Lorelai said, poking her head around the corner from the kitchen. "Dinner's not…ready…yet."

Jess tried to hide his laugh, but he couldn't contain it. "We'll come back," he said, grabbing Rory's arm and pushing her to the door.

"Jess, what?" Rory said, oblivious to the situation.

He just shook his head and opened the door, getting her out on the porch. "Lorelai said dinner wasn't ready, let's go," Jess grabbed her hand and lead her away from the house. "Follow me."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on. Something funky happened in there," she put her free hand on her hip, standing her ground.

"Come on Ror," Jess laughed at the absurdity of this. Typically Rory would have figured it out by now. "I'll tell you when we get there."

Rory just glared at him but followed voluntarily. "Where are we going?" Jess didn't say anything, but just walked through the town still holding her hand. "Oh," she said when he suddenly stopped walking.

Jess took her to the bridge. It was the place where they had spent so much time together, the one place in Stars Hollow that he had always liked. "Come on," he grasped her hand tighter and walked out to the middle of the bridge. "No underwater dining," they laughed together.

"Let's sit," she took the initiative and pulled him down. Jess sat across from her, staring into her eyes. "You make me nervous when you do that…"

"Okay," he said and dropped his eyes around a foot. "You're right, that's better!"

"Jess!" She pulled his hand, and he looked back up to her face. "We have to be serious now."

Rory looked sad, like she really didn't want to tell him more. "Rory, please don't be sad. Hey, why don't I tell you why we had to leave Lorelai's? I promised I would when we got here."

She tilted her head, "Yeah… What happened back there? Since when are you in cahoots with my mom?"

"I'm not in cahoots with her, it just so happens I noticed she was naked."

"Naked?" Rory's eyes bugged out of her head. Jess laughed when she tried to shake away the image. "How…why…what?"

"Wow, you must really be anxious about what you're going to tell me if you didn't realize your mom was totally not cooking dinner with Luke. She put her head around the corner, she didn't come out to greet you like she usually would. There was also no shirt showing, no bra or anything…" He laughed again at Rory's reaction to the 'cooking dinner' comment.

"Ewwww…and I have to EAT in that kitchen! Oh no, what if they were doing it in my room?" Her face scrunched up at the mental image.

"I'm sure they weren't," Jess said and stroked her palm. "Feel better now?"

Rory sighed and leaned towards him. "Well not really."

Jess leaned forwards and gave her a hug. She turned around and looked up to the stars. "I'm here, you're fine…" Jess moved her head to his lap and played with her hair.

They sat like that for a few minutes in silence. Rory closed her eyes and Jess continued playing with her hair. "I slept with him," she said quickly.

Jess's hand faltered but then kept going. He could see the tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She rolled on to her side, which didn't look very comfortable. She grasped his leg and pulled herself into a fetal position. "Jess," she whispered while sobbing. "I'm so sorry, I.." She stopped talking, overcome by her tears.

"Ror," Jess didn't understand exactly what she said. "I'm trying to listen, but you.. I love you, you know?"

Rory nodded and continued crying. "I slept with Dean. Right after you left. He was married. I was so stupid."

"You could never be stupid," he tried to comfort her. He leaned down and tried to kiss her but she was too far away. "Rory," he whispered to her. "Rory, sit up." He wasn't stern or angry, he just wanted to be able to actually hold her. Jess grabbed under her arms gently and pulled her up to a sitting position. He wrapped his arms around her body as she collapsed into him.

Jess rocked her back and forth until her body stopped shaking. He pulled her away a bit so he could look into her eyes. "Rory, what else happened? Tell me as much as you can before dinner. We can talk later, but right now we need to get as much as we can out in the open."

"Oh Jess… Right after you came to Yale, Mom and Sookie opened the Dragonfly. They had everyone over for dinner and a test run of the inn. Dean was working there because he works for Tom and…"

"Just breathe. You know I'm here for you."

"He told me his marriage was failing. That he and Lindsay were having problems, and that they probably weren't going to be together much longer. I..we.. We went back to Mom's and had love-less sex. I became the other woman, like you were the other man…but only a million times worse. I don't know if I loved him. I know he didn't love me."

"I'm sure he did. How could someone not love you?" Jess said as he tilted her face up so he could look in her eyes.

"He was married!" Rory cried and started sobbing again.

Jess held her close and patted her back. "You were with him when you found me," he said. _Maybe he was just getting back at her for that?_ He couldn't help that thought, but he wasn't going to tell Rory. "Anything else?" he asked when she slowed her crying.

"You know I could talk forever…"

"Well your last name_ is_ Gilmore."

Rory backed away from him and playfully hit him on the shoulder. "And as a Gilmore, I take offense to that. And..I'm starving!"

"Let's just hope Luke and Lorelai have finished 'cooking'," Jess said and laughed when he saw her face scrunch up in disgust for the second time.

She punched him in the shoulder again but a little harder than the first time. "I bare my soul to you, dehydrate myself by crying, and embarrass myself to no end…and then you just have to remind me that I caught my mom having sex? You are sick and twisted, mister. You're lucky I don't pull a Luke and push you off this bridge."

"Go ahead. If I go, you're going down with me," Jess said and wrapped his arm around her waist as they stood and walked back to Lorelai's.

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**Whee! I have been so kindly reminded by my best friend that I really am a review whore. You guys were so diligent in giving me the five! Can I ask for ten? Pretty please? Don't worry about it too much though, cos I'll probably just post again tomorrow. I have to work out the next chapter (I was lucky I already started writing this before the reviews poured in). I foresee this story as going on for quite a while (many many chapters are left). I have so many ideas. I want this to happen and that to happen and I don't see some of the things happening anytime soon! That's good news for you though! ACK! Declaration of Independence style AN, sorry. Now, in your reviews, please do me a favor: I'm thinking of writing Jess's book (I already have the prologue posted, go read it if you haven't!), and I don't know if I should start it yet. It would be longer to update because it would require more actual research…but I want to know if anyone would like to read it. Thanks!  
I really don't mean to have such long ANs but I love talking to my readers! I had another question for you all...do you like chapters like this (and the last few) that only had one scene...or do you like chapters that have more than one scene (Chapter 4 for example):D I just want to make you happy!**

**Thanks peoples! You don't understand how much I appreciate the hit count rising and the review alerts in my email. You're boosting my confidence to unknown levels!**


	11. Movie Night Goodness

**AN:** I feel so happy inside!

**Disclaimer:** Not it! I mean…Not mine!

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Rory and Jess sat at the kitchen table for dinner with Luke and Lorelai. Rory had a look of disgust on her face and Jess wore a childish grin. Lorelai stared at Rory with a look of 'what's wrong' but he never really was a good liar; the smile on her face gave her away. As soon as Rory and Jess sat down, Luke got up and busied himself with getting the food.

"So…" Jess said to Lorelai, not wiping the grin off his face. "Was dinner _hard_ to make?"

"Well it started out really easy, but it got progressively harder," Lorelai said with a wink. Rory shuddered and Luke dropped the knife he was holding.

"You two are awful," Jess said to Rory and Luke. "What's life without a few sexual innuendos to lighten things up?"

"You," Luke said and picked up the knife to point at Jess, "Are my nephew. And Rory…"

"Yeah, I know, I know.. You've always treated her like a daughter," Jess said and shook the image out of his mind of Rory someday soon being related to him.

"Hey, she's my kid and I don't care!" Lorelai chipped in.

"Thanks Mom!" Rory hung her head in shame.

Jess took Rory's hand under the table and thought it would be best to change the topic. "So were you worried about me last night?" He asked Lorelai.

"Well when you didn't show up for dinner, I kinda figured you'd gone back to your old self," Lorelai admitted. "But once again, Rory was right when she said you changed."

"I said I changed too," Jess reminded her.

"Yeah, but if you could've lied and then you would've… Oh nevermind!"

"I would've been worried, but _someone_ forgot to tell me you were going to be back for dinner," Luke said, motioning to Lorelai. He returned to the table and put down plates of food in front of everyone.

It was close to silent when they ate, only random comments between Jess and Lorelai. Rory could hardly believe it was Jess and her mom having the conversation, they never got along in the past. _Maybe that's another thing that changed._ Lorelai must have been giving Jess another chance. Maybe he'd get to prove himself this time.

Rory didn't mind the silence; it was just weird watching Luke and her mom ogle each other. She knew they were in love, she just wished they didn't have to be so sickeningly cute about it. When everyone was done eating they put the dishes in the sink to soak and then everyone stood in the kitchen staring at each other.

"Movie night!" Lorelai said, breaking the silence.

"Recently diagnosed with Tourettes?" Rory questioned her mom.

"You guys go get the movie…Jess, please don't let Luke pick it…And Rory and I will go get provisions!"

"We just had a huge meal!" Luke exclaimed.

"Uh. Luke? Do you remember who we're talking about here?" Jess said with a laugh. "And I won't let Luke pick," he added to Lorelai.

"Well, okay," Rory said, following her mom out of the house. She paused when she passed Jess. "Don't you dare get anything remotely sappy, romantic or has any capability of making me cry."

Jess nodded as Lorelai came back and pulled Rory outside.

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"Junk food _good!_" Lorelai said in a singsong voice as they got in her jeep to drive to Doose's. "Sooooooooo…"

"Mom," Rory said sternly.

"You're not going to tell me!" she said astonished.

"MOM!"

"I want to know the juicy details; I can't believe you're holding out on me."

"What makes you think there are juicy details?"

"There always is."

Rory thought a bit. _Oh..yeah._ "Well…"

"I knew it!"

"It's not so much juicy," she said and paused. "He loves me."

Lorelai sighed, "We already knew that. I need really juicy details."

"Well…he said," Rory didn't know how to say it. "He said Stars Hollow is his home."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know," Rory said and got out of the jeep. They entered Doose's and gathered all the junk food they could see. "So," Rory said while Lorelai paid for the food.

"So," she replied. "What does that mean?"

"Honestly… I have no clue! What is it supposed to mean?" They walked back out to the jeep. "He said he left nothing behind in New York, that there was nothing keeping him there."

"Well, honey," Lorelai said while starting the car, "Maybe that means he's moving back. Again."

XXXXXXXXXX

Luke grabbed Jess's jacket before they entered the video store. "You better tell me what's going on here. Being all buddy buddy with Lorelai, coming home with Rory all red eyed… You got beaten up by her boyfriend, and may I ask WHY?"

"Ex-boyfriend."

"What?"

Jess sighed. "I got beaten up by her EX boyfriend. I may have been the cause of the break up but it seemed a long time coming by her attitude towards him."

"That still doesn't explain why you're being so damn friendly with my fiancée, and why Rory was in such a bad mood when you came over for dinner, or why you're back here to begin with."

"Come on Luke," Jess said firmly. "You're not that stupid! One, Rory was in such a bad mood because we were talking about what's been happening around here. Two, I was being friendly with your _fiancée_ because I happen to be in LOVE with her daughter so I'd like to not have her hate me. Three, if you weren't paying attention to two, I'm in love with Rory, which is why I'm back."

Luke stood there, blocking the door to the video store, his mouth slack jawed. "Jess."

"Luke," he said mockingly.

"You hurt her and I swear to god you'll wish you were dead," Luke threatened and entered the video store.

Jess stood outside with the exact expression that Luke had just before he made the threat. He quickly realized that Luke was in the video store by himself though and he had made two promises to the Gilmore women: not to let Luke pick the movie and to not get anything remotely sappy, romantic or tear-worthy. _This is going to be fun._

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Lorelai and Rory had already set up the food on the coffee table by the time the guys got back from the video store. "Took you long enough!" Lorelai said when they arrived. She went over to Luke and stopped him before he even got into the living room, pinning him up against the wall.

Jess walked right by them and went straight to Rory. "I hope you like it," he said and handed her the DVD.

She pulled out the case and smiled. "Willy Wonka, the original."

"Because the original one is so much better. The oompa loompa's are just creepy in the new one!"

Rory's mouth broke into a huge grin, "My thoughts exactly." Jess touched her shoulder and took the case from her and went to put it in the DVD player. "Mom, stop making out and watch the movie. Movie night rules apply so keep it PG, kay?"

"Okay _Mom_," Lorelai said from the foyer. She and Luke came into the living room, both looking a little disheveled.

"You two are sickeningly adorable. Keep it to yourself, won't you?"

"Yes _Mom_,"

"Thanks, sweetie," Rory said sarcastically.

While Lorelai and Luke positioned themselves on the couch, Jess and Rory made a spot on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. Prime real estate for those in need of a good view and all the sugar they could ask for. Jess started the movie and Rory relaxed into his chest, reveling in the fact that he really was perfect, even if he did like Hemmingway.

XXXXXXXXXX

When the movie was over, Luke and Lorelai went upstairs to sleep and do other unthinkable acts, leaving Jess and Rory downstairs alone. "So…" Jess said, falling back into the couch. He reached behind him and shuddered. "Ew!" he said relatively loudly, pulling out a banana peel. "What the hell?"

Rory laughed, "Luke's attempt at a healthy Movie Night?"

"I swear, he is so strange," Jess said, tossing aside the peel and grabbing Rory's hand, pulling her down to the couch as well. "So what's on the agenda tonight? Going back to Yale?"

"Well since you're the one with the car, it's up to you," she said, curling up with her head resting on his lap.

Jess started to stroke her hair again and leaned back. "Naw, I think we're stuck here. Plus, we wouldn't want to worry Lorelai."

"Since when do you care about worrying my mom? Do you not remember the whole car accident incident?"

"Remember, I've changed."

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting," she said absentmindedly. Jess could tell she was falling asleep. She looked so peaceful, so happy. It was a drastic change from their talk on the bridge when they were sitting in the same position. "Ror?" he asked to see if she was awake.

Rory didn't answer, so he slipped out from under her and stood up. He looked down and saw the girl of his dreams the way he remembered her. Jess bent over and picked her up, trying not to wake her.

"Jess?" she said sleepily. "Mmm."

He placed her down on her chair and pushed back the blankets on her bed. Jess went and picked her up again, laying her down in the bed. He went outside to his car and got her back and some of his clothes. He changed into some shorts he still had from California and took off his shirt. Jess stared at Rory for a while, contemplating if he should change her or not.

He looked at the clothes she had brought, which included pajamas with clouds on them, and clothes for the next day. He knelt in front of her on the side of the bed and wondered if he'd really be able to change her without her waking up. He decided to risk it because he didn't want her to have to sleep in jeans, he'd done that many times and it was horrible to wake up to. She had already had so much pain in her life.

Jess took off her t-shirt as slowly as he could, being very gentle around her face. He smiled when he saw her bra, and reprimanded himself for being a pervert. "I knew I'd see you like this soon," he whispered to her sleeping body. He put her pajama top on and slowly tried to take off her jeans without disturbing her. He looked away as he pulled them off, because he felt like it was wrong to look.

"Jess?" he heard as he was trying to get her pants off.

"Jess?" Rory's voice was more questioning this time. He took his hands off her and held up her pajama pants with his other hand.

"Sleeping in jeans sucks. I'm sorry." He felt her take the pajama pants out of his hand and heard her finish changing.

"Jess?" she said again.

He turned around and saw her lying there without the pajama top he had already put on her. She was still wearing the pants but he could only focus on her top half. _It's been too long_, he thought and closed his eyes.

"I was hot," she said playfully. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to her. "Let's go to sleep now," she said and rolled over, motioning for Jess to get in the small bed next to her. This was the second time they had slept together since he came back. At least this time he had skin to skin contact. He pulled the covers up over him and an already sleeping Rory.

_This is going to be one long night, _he thought, unable to focus on anything but the body he had his arms around.

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**Whoa! LONG! I mean.. WOW! That's like, WOW! I had so much freaking FUN writing this chapter. Sometimes I just like to jump back and forth between people's POVs. I think it makes the story more interesting, having more than one person's perspective..dont' you think? **

**I didn't get to my 10 reviews, how sad! I did get 7 though, so to everyone that's reviewed me, thank you SO much! Even if you have already, please do so again (I'm shooting for 10 again because this chap is so long!) I love to hear your ideas and thoughts about how it's going so far. Ginnyclone: I will include your dare in the next chapter..I know exactly how I'm going to do it too!**

**If you have a dare (something small you think would be fun to put in here) just dare me and I'll do my best. It may create drama or humor or anything you wish. I think I've done a good job at including both the drama and humor. All you JJs out there, I hope you like the interaction. I just think they're so adorable!**

**I am a pretty pretty princess. Please review, your majesty's orders!**

**Edit 2/15/06 - haven't gotten many reviews :( I guess I'm just impatient. Someone dare me though!**


	12. On My Way

**AN:** Yay, I'm so proud of my last chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned them, but alas, I do not.

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Luke woke up naturally early and headed downstairs to brew coffee for the others in the house. He noticed Rory's door was open when he entered the kitchen and he looked in. Jess and Rory were in bed, Jess's armed wrapped around her. _He better take what I said to heart. I can't see Rory hurt again._

After getting the coffee ready and making himself some whole-wheat toast, Luke sat down at the table and took a short break before opening up the diner. "Hey," Jess said, coming out of Rory's room. "Couldn't sleep. Oh good, coffee."

Luke watched jess pour a cup of coffee and sit down at the table with him. "Isn't 'couldn't sleep' the excuse you make in the middle of the night?"

Jess nodded, "Typically. I just happen to have not been able to sleep through the entire night."

"That's what you get when you eat twenty pounds of sugar in an hour and a half," Luke said, defending his idea that sugar and coffee would kill them someday.

"The sugar had nothing to do with my sleeplessness."

"Ah," Luke said, standing up. "I've got to go to open the diner."

Jess stood up too, "Do you think you'll need help later? I have to take Rory back for her classes, but I don't know if I'll be able to stay up there…"

Luke looked at Jess in shock. _He wants to help in the diner? When he doesn't actually have to? What was the world coming to!_ "Uh, sure… Call me when you know what's happening." He turned towards the back door, needed fresh air and to make sure the apocalypse wasn't happening.

"Oh and Luke," Jess said right before he left, "Do you think I could stay in the apartment since you're here with Lorelai? I mean, if you still use it, I can just crash on my old bed..if it's still there.."

"Uh, yeah, sure… Remind me when you call, and I'll see if I left anything up there that I'll need," Luke said hurridly and rushed out the door. He looked up at the sky, _what are the signs of the apocalypse again?_

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Rory woke up with Jess leaning over her. He was dressed in his jeans from the day before but a button up shirt instead of his normal tee. "Why so fancy," she said and rubbed her eyes.

"Not fancy, just trying to fit in to that Yale crowd," he said and laughed.

"You read more than half the students at Yale, why would you need a button down shirt to fit in?" She questioned. "Sexy though." Rory looked down at her own attire and pulled up the blankets. "Hey," she said and shot daggers at Jess.

"What are you looking at me for? I'm the one that put a shirt on you, you're the one that took it off! I just happened to not object," he winked. "Come on, we've got a drive ahead of us."

"Shoo," she said and motioned to the door. "You've already seen enough." _Stupid sugar high_, she thought as Jess went out into the kitchen.

Rory got up and went through her bag that Jess had placed on her vanity. She glanced back at the clock on her nightstand. "8:45," she groaned. After dressing in the jeans and sweater that she thankfully packed, Rory headed out to the kitchen. "Why is it so early?"

"Because I haven't learned time travel yet," Jess said, looking at her with a smile. "We have to get you back up for class."

Rory nodded, "Unfortunately." She grabbed herself a cup of coffee that Jess had already poured and hummed when she sipped it.

Jess laughed at the pleasure that Rory gained from the coffee. "Yeah, but that big fancy school needs you. What would they do without you there?"

She sighed, not wanting to go back just yet. "Why don't we stop at Luke's first? We have time."

"Okay, get your stuff," Jess said and headed out to the car. Rory grabbed her bag and followed him out.

"I think it's a chocolate chip pancake morning," Rory said and giggled. "Do you think Luke will do that for me?"

"If not, say they're for Lorelai, seems he'll do anything for her."

"He will. I'm the mini Lorelai," she reminded him. "Maybe that will be close enough." Jess smiled and started driving to Luke's. It wasn't that far but since they were heading back to New Haven right after breakfast, they felt it was okay to drive. "I can't wait for those pancakes."

"And if he won't make them?"

Rory just smiled. "You know how to use a stove."

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The drive back to Yale was filled with small talk, the night before covering quite a bit of the serious topics. Jess could tell that Rory needed to chat to someone, not to have another emotional breakdown. They rehashed the Hemmingway/Rand debate and Jess admitted he never finished The Fountainhead. Rory told him about her and Lorelai's crazy summer in Europe. He wished he had been there with them, eating in the cafés in Italy, sipping coffee in as many countries as they could. He couldn't help being jealous but she sounded so happy.

After they arrived at her dorm, Rory went to get ready for class and work on her article due in a few days. He told her he was ok, he had things to do, and to call him when she was out of her classes and had finished the article. He wanted her to be relaxed that night, so they could have a good time without any deadlines worrying her.

Jess left her dorm and walked farther in to campus, away from his car. He knew that he hadn't told Rory much about his life since he left Stars Hollow. She knew about California but after his last run-in at Yale, she knew nothing except that he was in New York. Jess pulled out a pamphlet from his back pocket and studied the map. "Dean's office…" he said to himself and started walking.

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**Okay, well I know that was around half the length of the last chapter, sorry about that. It was that whole "Ah-ha, that's the last line," thing. Did any of you see that coming:D, I didn't think so! More of an explanation is to come in the next chapter. (Short AN too!)**

**I'm not getting all that many reviews anymore. That makes me sad. Come on people, you get longer, better chapters the more you review! Thank you to everyone that does review though, I really do appreciate it.**


	13. Good Impression

**AN:** This is hard to start! Wish me luck!

**Disclaimer:** I wish this would happen on the show, but alas…Not mine.

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"The Dean, Harris Fellows, will see you now," the secretary in the admissions department told Jess.

He stood up from the chair in the waiting room. "Thank you," he said and walked towards the dean's office. _This is it, _he thought. He knocked before entering; a formality that he knew Yale would appreciate.

"Come in," he heard through the door. Jess pushed the door open and found himself face to face with the dean of admissions. "Welcome," Dean Fellows said. The dean walked back to his desk and picked up a folder. "Jess Mariano?"

"Yes sir."

"Would you care to explain your past educational experiences?" He asked, looking up from the folder.

"I attended high school in New York City for three years before transferring to Stars Hollow High. I attended for a semester and a half, but because of extraneous circumstances I couldn't go anymore. I took some time off and traveled for a few months."

"You typically don't hear of people taking time off from high school," he said with a condescending tone.

Jess was used to getting talked down to, but in this case he was particularly uncomfortable. He needed to make a good impression on Dean Fellows. "I know you don't want to hear a sob story of how horrible my life was, but I have to say that I have worked twice as hard to make up for that time. When I was in high school I had no direction, no ambition. I was smarter than most of my classmates but I was underappreciated. I know that is no excuse for dropping out of school, but you have to understand that I have made up for it.

"I returned to New York when I turned eighteen and I started back up at Lincoln High School. I tested out of all my English classes, both literature and writing courses. I had most of the requirements to graduate but I needed to retake the basics because I felt I could do better."

"I do understand that you may have worked to make up for the 'time off', but do you understand that it reflects poorly on your status as a student?" The dean asked Jess. His tone was stern, Jess worried that he wasn't going to finish the interview.

"Yes, I do," Jess said and nodded. "When I graduated from Lincoln, I went to City University of New York for a semester before transferring to SUNY. All of my credits transferred between the schools and as I understand it, they will also transfer here."

The dean nodded to confirm his assumption.

"When I first started at City, I enrolled in as many core classes as I could, as those were my weakness in high school. I wanted to focus on English, particularly on creative writing, but I had to first prove to myself and the school that I could excel in more than just my field of study."

"Your transcripts prove that you were indeed able to do that," Dean Fellows commented. "I would like to know why you transferred to SUNY and why you are applying here at Yale." He prepped his pen to take notes in Jess's folder.

"Well sir, I never planned to spend my entire undergraduate career at City. I knew that with my academic past, I wouldn't have been accepted to SUNY without other college experience. I worked as hard as I could at City so that I would be accepted. I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay at SUNY for the rest of my degree, but I would've been happy to stay."

The dean made some marks on his papers. "So why are you applying here at Yale?"

Jess needed to word his answer correctly, so he paused for a few seconds. "To me, Yale is the one place that could provide me with the education I am looking for. I believe that I would fit in well with the kind of people that attend. I am well read and I have managed to get my act together since high school."

"What makes you think you are ready for Yale? We are one of the top schools in the United States, our classes aren't looked upon as being 'easy', and we require much more than SUNY when it comes to courses and extra curriculars."

"I personally don't see the point of going to a university if all someone wants is to take those 'easy' classes. The purpose of college is to push someone, to get them ready for the real world. I worked my way through the last three years of school and I know that I will appreciate everything that Yale has to offer, extra curricular activities included. I want to be a part of one of the top schools in America, I the opportunity to further my education with the most esteemed professors available to me."

After writing a few more things in Jess's folder, Dean Fellows placed the folder back on his desk and stood up. "Mr. Mariano, I enjoyed this meeting with you."

Jess stood up and shook his hand, "I did as well, sir."

"You will be hearing from our office soon, thank you again for coming."

"Thank you," Jess said as he walked back out into the waiting room. _That was…wow. _Jess exited the building and stood outside before heading back to Rory's dorm. He had to leave a note on her door before heading back to Stars Hollow.

**Went back to The Hollow, call me.**

Jess assumed she had his number still, he certainly had hers. He left her dorm and went back to his car and headed back to Stars Hollow. When he was on the highway he saw a sign for Hector's Tacos. He remembered Rory saying something about Hector's tacos back when they first started dating.

Jess stopped in the drive through and got some famous tacos and finished the drive to Stars Hollow, managing to not spill any on his fancy shirt. He was unbuttoning the top buttons while he walked into Luke's, ready to start his first shift back.

"Why the formal wear?" Luke asked when he saw Jess go behind the counter and put on his apron.

"Ha ha," Jess said sarcastically. He wasn't ready to tell the entire town what he had just done up at Yale, and with Babette and Patty in the corner, it would be known under ten minutes. "I'm going upstairs to change."

Luke nodded, "Whatever." He was suspicious but decided to just ignore it. Jess had just come back; he couldn't be up to no good already.

Jess noticed that Luke had already cleaned out the apartment for him to stay in, and he went over to the closet to see if Luke had left him any clothes. He left he stuff in the car and didn't really want to make a scene of going back down to get it. Thankfully Luke had forgotten about the closet and there were still a few flannel shirts for him to borrow. He put his button down shirt on the hanger and but it back into the closet before he put the apron back on.

"Okay," Jess said when he got back out into the diner. "What do you have for me?"

Luke took his order pad out of his pocket and handed it to Jess, who looked like a younger version of him. "I'm going to go see Lorelai," he said and headed to the door. "You can take care of things."

"You got it Luke," he said, trying to sound sarcastic. He really was looking forward to 'taking care of things'. There was some kind of comfort in returning to the job he had as a kid. He was falling right into Luke's footsteps, except he was determined to get the girl sooner rather than later.

"What can I get you," he asked Babette and Patty. He knew the word was going to get out that he was not only back in town, but back in business…why delay the gossip chain any further? He pretended to wait impatiently for their orders, but happily answered their questions. Soon he was going to have nothing to hide.

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**Everyone enjoy? It took forever to get going, but I think it turned out really well. No cliff-hanger this time, all of you better come back for the next chapter. I guess you all probably expected this to happen after the way I left you for the last chapter…but did it turn out like you expected? **

**This isn't my proudest chapter, but it sure does amp up the drama in the next one. Preview: Rory, and a little Hollow drama. OOohhh Drama.**

**Please review, thank you kindly!-- Okay, you guys RULE! As I post this, I have gotten 9 reviews on the last chapter! This is amazing! I love you!**

**Another little note – Ahh, tornados! Indiana weather is so unpredictable and SUCKY.**


	14. Rumor Mill

**Disclaimer:** Making up creative disclaimers is getting harder. Blah. Not my characters, much to my dismay.

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It was Thursday night and Rory had officially decided that Friday classes were overrated. The note on her door said that Jess had gone back to Stars Hollow and she planned on following him. She turned in her article to Doyle via Paris and packed enough clothes to last until Sunday night. She made sure to have her computer, just in case she needed to get schoolwork done for Monday.

With her iPod on again, Rory made her way back to her real home. She wasn't paying attention to the music; all her thoughts were focused on Jess. What had Jess been doing all day? She had classes and more time at the paper, because Jess had told her to finish the article before contacting him. Now she knew why, he knew her too well. He knew that she wouldn't stay at Yale without him when she could drive 45 minutes and be with him.

Around halfway to Stars Hollow, Rory took out her cell phone and called Jess. When he didn't answer, she hung up and called the diner. "Luke's Diner," Jess said absentmindedly.

"You don't have your cell on you," Rory informed him. "Where's Luke?"

"Off with Lorelai somewhere…He left me in charge,"

"Whoa Mr. Responsibility!"

"Ror, it's the dinner rush. I'll call you when it slows down. I gotta go." He hung up the phone quickly.

Rory could hear the bustle in the background before he was gone. She didn't even get to tell him she was on her way. "I can't believe Luke left him in charge," she said aloud. Jess really had changed, and it was becoming more evident with every passing day.

When she got into Stars Hollow, Rory went to the house before going to the diner. It was still the middle of the dinner rush, and she wanted to take a shower and relax a bit before seeing him. She brought her bag in with her and used the familiar shower. Rory dressed and read some of her Econ textbook on the comfy old sofa she had spent so much time on in the past. When she looked at the clock and figured it would be late enough for the diner to be slowing down.

Rory put on some mascara and lip gloss, tossing the containers into her purse and headed out the door. She loved the smell of the fall air in Stars Hollow. It was so different from Yale, she thought as she entered the town square. Everyone knew each other here; there was a sense of home and belonging that she never really felt at Yale.

When she passed by Miss Patty's, the portly woman rushed out to greet her. "Hello, dear," she said and blocked Rory's way.

"Hi Miss Patty," she said politely. It was never a good thing when Miss Patty actively sought someone out. "Am I missing out on something here?"

"Well, well, well…What makes you think that?" Patty said, tapping her foot to the beat of the music coming out of her studio.

Rory shook her head, Miss Patty was so bad at hiding things she knew. That's why they call her the head of the gossip chain. "Come on Patty, you're not telling me something."

"Well, Jess…" Rory's ears piped up when Patty said Jess's name. "He told us some interesting news today…"

Rory raised her eyebrows, "Yes? I'm really hungry Patty, just tell me."

Patty made a tsking nose before continuing, "You're a lot like your mother, you know."

Rory nodded, she actually looked forward to being her mother. "What did Jess tell you?"

"He said he had an interview of some kind today. That boy is so sneaky, he always was. He refused to tell us what kind!"

"Us?"

"Babette and I were just having lunch at Luke's when Luke left Jess in charge. He came to serve us and just started talking."

"Oh Miss Patty," Rory said and sighed. "Jess didn't stand a chance!"

Patty laughed heartily. "Whatever do you mean?"

Rory just shook her head again. "I'll talk to you later Patty."

"See you honey!" she said and returned to her studio.

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"Surprise!" Rory said as she entered the closed diner. Jess looked up from his position at the register and smiled.

"I called you when we quieted down, but you didn't answer," he said as she approached the counter. "And you chastised me for not answering my phone!"

Rory giggled. "I think you have some explaining to do, mister."

"What about?" he asked and feigned innocence.

Rory turned around and saw Miss Patty peeking in the corner of the window. "That," she said and pointed. Miss Patty waved, obviously caught, and walked towards her studio again.

Jess raised his left hand, "I plead the fifth!" He started laughing, he couldn't believe Miss Patty had gotten to Rory already. Yeah, he knew that the gossip mill could spread news within the hour, but he didn't figure Rory would be a part of it just yet. "So, what made you come down?"

"You know exactly what did!" she playfully punched him in the shoulder.

With a smile on his face he thought, _yeah, I did._ "So what's on the agenda for tonight?" He asked before turning back to the register. Luke hadn't been in since he left earlier and Jess had decided to close the diner when every paying customer had left. He had to kick Kirk out of course.

Rory didn't say anything, but he could feel her watching him. He finished counting the register before looking up at her. "Ror?"

"You know what?" she asked, avoiding the question at hand.

Jess smirked, "What?"

She leaned in close to him, so that her upper torso was over the counter and her face was inches from his. He could feel his heartbeat rising to dangerous levels and his palms started to sweat. "I…" she started. He couldn't help looking at her lips when she talked. "I am so _hungry!_" she giggled and sat back down in the bar stool.

"You are so mean," he said and went back to the kitchen. He had let Caesar off at the same time he kicked Kirk out.

"Yeah, but you love me!" she said, obviously not realizing the meaning of her retort.

Jess popped his head out of the kitchen. "You're already using that against me?" he asked, pretending to be hurt. He laughed heartily when he saw the look on her face; like she didn't know what to say. She always knew what to say. "Lighten up Ror."

He headed back in to the kitchen before she regained her speech capabilities. "I think the absence of food has affected my judgment!"

"No problem," he said and came out with a two plates with burgers and fries.

"I'm not that hungry," she joked, seeing the massive amounts of food.

"Ha ha. Follow me," Jess said and disappeared behind the curtain heading up to Luke's apartment. Rory didn't appear behind the curtain until he was almost at the top of the stairs. "Took you long enough."

Jess couldn't see the look on Rory's face in the dark staircase, but he assumed she was confused. He would be if he was in her position. "Jess?" She questioned, confirming his suspicion.

"Don't worry," he said and pushed the door to the apartment open and placed the food on the table. "Luke knows we're here."

Rory shrugged as she sat down at the table. Jess opened up the fridge and was thankful to find that Luke really sucks as cleaning things out. "Beer?"

"Sure," she said and shrugged again.

"You better stop that shrugging or you'll stick that way," he handed her a beer and sat down across from her.

"That's for facial expressions," she corrected him. "Why didn't we just eat down in the diner?"

"I could see Miss Patty coming back," Jess said and reached across the table to hold her hand. "I think we've already given her enough information to last a day, at least."

"So, are you going to tell me what the whole Miss Patty/Babette thing was all about?"

Jess thought about it for a minute. "Well… Start eating and I'll tell you." Rory picked up her fries and dipped them in the salt and pepper dip he had placed in the middle of the table. "I didn't leave Yale immediately after I dropped you off…"

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**Ha, I love it! Okay, just a warning to everyone...I won't be posting much over the next few days. .:rant:. Right now I've been posting EVERY DAY and I know you've all been loving it. Saturday is my birthday, and I may or may not write. I may or may not post. I have to devote all of Sunday to writing the best damn research paper I've ever done in my life. I have school all Monday and was just reminded today that I have a concert I'm going to monday night (an hour and a half away) that I have to leave for right after my last class. I won't get back to my apartment until 11 at the earliest...probably more around midnight or later. Then I have to keep working on that paper becauseI'm not kidding it has to be the best paper ever. AANNNDDD I work Tuesday and I just hope I am still alive after tonight because I'm having MAJOR dramas. MAJOR. DAMNIT. .:rant:.**

**Thanks everyone that has review'd, please do it again! More, I want more! (If you really don't want to, don't… I'm kinda just goofing off right now.)**

**Hope you liked it, hope you keep reading!**


	15. Lovely Lorelai Gilmore

**AN:** Heh, cliffie. You know what that reminds me of? ;) Replace the Cl with a St. :D Dirty!

**Disclaimer:**  
_Me:_ Gilmore Girls, be my valentine!  
_GG:_ No.

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Rory stared at Jess, mouth agape. "What? I thought Patty said you had some sort of interview…" Why would he stay on campus? "Jess!" she yelled and dropped her fry.

Jess adopted a goofy grin, "Yes?"

"Don't you play dumb with me. I know you better than that. Tell me exactly what happened!"

"Keep eating," he said and pointed to the fallen fry. "Maybe you'll refrain from talking with your mouth full." Rory stuck out her tongue, partially chewed fry and all. "Or maybe not."

Rory continued eating while they sat in silence. She was almost done with her burger before Jess started talking. "I couldn't tell you before, or you'd insist to come with me. Like you said, we know each other too well. I needed to do it on my own."

"You still haven't told me exactly what you did… You should know better to leave this up to my imagination," she said and finished her meal. She focused all her attention on Jess.

"What do you think happened?"

"Jess…" she said in a warning tone.

"Okay, I had to at least try," he said and stood up. "It seems that whenever we talk about anything important…"

"I understand," Rory said and grabbed her jacket before they headed out of the apartment. They left the closed diner and headed to the bridge. They always talked there, no matter the time or the weather. Jess sat down on the side of the bridge with his legs hanging over. Rory couldn't help but remember the first time they talked out there; they were both so different now.

Rory sat down behind Jess, instead of beside him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into his back. His body moved with his breath, she could feel him sigh.

"I talked to the dean," he said and shifted his body. Rory leaned back away from him and he turned around. "I have to look at you."

"Why?" she asked quietly.

Jess held her hands and looked into her eyes. "Because…I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. I wouldn't be here; I wouldn't be doing something with my life. I was in college in New York. I tested out of most of my remaining high school classes, which I wouldn't have done if you hadn't reminded me how smart I was all the time. I started at City University and transferred to SUNY. The whole time…I knew it was because of you. Who else told me I could actually be something? It was only you."

Tears rolled down Rory's cheeks and he wiped them away. She couldn't believe he was telling her all of this. "Me?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I know you better," he said, mimicking her earlier statement. "You sure are your mother's daughter."

Rory started to cry harder. "Oh Jess…What does this mean?"

"I don't know…I won't find out for a month or so."

"But, if you're accepted?" she leaned towards him and rested her head against his. "Then…?"

"Then I'd be going to Yale," Jess said and she could hear the pride in his voice. "With you."

Her tear-stained mouth turned up into a smile. "I always wanted you to go to college. I secretly hoped you'd go to Yale with me, we'd be the smartest people there."

"There's my Rory, humble as ever," he said and hugged her. They stayed in the hug for a few minutes but Rory started to shiver. "Let's go back to the apartment." He stood up and offered a hand to help her up.

Rory stood up and tried to figure out what direction to go. One would take her home, where her car and all her things were, where her mother was. The other took her back to the diner, with Jess. "Shouldn't I go home?" she asked, not sure what answer she wanted to get. "I don't have anything with me."

Jess grasped her hand and pulled her to him, "Come with me, we'll call Lorelai when we get there so she won't worry. And if she does worry…we'll just bribe her with coffee."

"Ah, coffee…Every Gilmore Girl's weakness," they laughed and headed back to the diner and its accompanying apartment. _I'm so happy_.

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"Hello, the lovely Lorelai Gilmore speaking," Lorelai said when she answered her cell when she saw Luke's Diner come up on the caller ID.

"You can't be Lorelai Gilmore," Rory said, startling her mom, "Because I am Lorelai Gilmore!"

They both laughed, drugged up feminism sure had its ups. "What's up Ror? Finally decided to tell Mommy you were back in town? Or did you just want me to visit with your car?"

"I thought you needed some more bonding time. We've had 21 years; it's only been around for 2. It's lonely!"

"So what's up?" Lorelai asked, ignoring her daughter's wit. "I take it you're at Luke's?"

"Yes, I'm with Jess."

"Well I'd hope so, because if you weren't, you'd be with Luke…"

"Ew! Mom!"

Lorelai could sense Rory's cringe across town. "Yeah, that was pretty bad. Would you rather me remind you that you and Jess will soon be related?"

"Stop it! I just wanted to tell you I was okay and I'd be staying here. You get more quality time with the car."

Lorelai smiled, "Thanks honey, you know I would've called you eventually. I can only take so much car-time."

"And you worry about me."

"More than you could possibly know. Have a good night. Shopping tomorrow? Since you're playing hooky already?"

"Sure, meet me here for coffee."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. The coffee, not you," Lorelai joked. "See you then."

"Bye Mom," Rory said and hung up.

Lorelai went back into the living room where she left Luke to watch TV while she talked on the phone. It was only ten at night and he already looked like he was about to fall asleep. "What's on?" she asked and joined him on the couch.

"Crap."

"Uh huh, what have you been watching?"

"Nothing."

"Uh huh," Lorelai grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and intertwined her body with his. She carefully took the remote from him and soon realized he wasn't joking when she finished flipping through the channels and not one decent show was on.

Lorelai looked up at Luke, who had begun to snore. She curled up with him and thought of how relaxing it was to be with the man she loved when unknown to her, Rory was doing and thinking the exact same thing across town.

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**I dunno when you peoples will get this, but I do know that I am a hardcore Disney addict and I can proves it! So what, wanna fight about it? Kay, I'll stop with the semi-obscure TV references.**

**My birthday went well. Lotto tix, two gift cards, a candle, cute cards, and something still unknown (it was left on a nightstand) later, I am happy. The best gift is yet to come, my boy bought me something and it'll arrive sometime on Monday. Color me pink, I do not for the life of me know what it is. He always gets me perfect gifts though. This is getting posted at like 2am my time, and I'm officially slap happy. FARTS.**

**Review please, you guys have been so good at reviews. The most I've gotten on a single chapter is 9, I'm really really hoping for 10. That'll just be SO cool! I never really give you enough time to get 10 on one chapter, but I'm going to try. You should know what that means. Enjoy, review, and remember...farts are funny, poop is not.**


	16. Bond, James Bond

**Disclaaaaaaaimer:** .:really fast commercial voice:. I am not the owner of Gilmore Girls, Amy, or her husband. I do not own the characters mentioned in the following writing. I am not a cheater, liar or stealer. I also have no need for air. .:back to normal voice:. Well that was weird.

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"Oh pretty!" Lorelai said as they passed another shoe store. "Gimme!" She headed into the store with Rory in tow.

"You have a million pairs of shoes," Rory complained. "And you have three new pairs." She held up the shopping bags they had already acquired. "I thought we were supposed to be window shopping."

Lorelai picked up more shoes to check the sizes and said, "We tried that before, it doesn't work. Plus…I want to spoil you!"

"You're spoiling yourself," Rory corrected her. "I've only gotten one thing." She sat down on the couch in the store and sighed. They needed to go to a normal store; Rory didn't want any more shoes. She had her boots, heels, and sneakers – that's all she needed. "Have you gotten your wedding dress yet? Or have you decided to make it?"

Lorelai dropped the shoes she was holding.

"Mom?" Rory went over to her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, picked up the shoes, and put them back on the shelf.

"You hadn't thought about it," Rory realized. "You know that when you get engaged, you eventually get married."

Lorelai nodded again, unable to speak. She collapsed on the couch next to her daughter and almost lost herself in thought.

Rory grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Okay," she said, dragging her mom out of the shoe store.

"Where are we going," Lorelai whined. She was in a bad mood since Rory mentioned the dress. It hadn't been very long but sitting down, staring into space, it felt like an eternity. "Ugh," Lorelai grunted when she ran into Rory's back after her daughter suddenly stopped. She looked up and sighed, Rory had a sick sense of humor.

"Time to find you a dress," Rory said cheerily. "They have to have one here." She pointed to the large sign in front of the store, 'Bridal Superstore'.

_It'd be like buying my dress at Costco!_ "I don't know if you are doing this as a joke…" Rory shook her head. "No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Rory said, uneasy.

"I'm not buying my dress at Costco."

"But this is…"

"No."

"You have to get a dress sometime! You have to get bridesmaids dresses and Luke needs a tux. You need to prepare!" Rory's voice was getting so high pitched only dogs could hear her.

Lorelai grabbed her daughter's jacket, pulling her close. "I'm not _ready_."

XXXXXXXXXX

It was the lull between the lunch rush and the dinner rush. Kirk was sitting in the corner, nursing the same coke for the last hour. Jess scoffed every time he passed him, the poor man obviously didn't have a life. Every hour or so Miss Patty or Babette would walk by, never coming in. Jess shook his head at this crazy town. He never thought he'd feel this way, but he couldn't help thinking it was good to be back.

Jess rested his head on the counter and sighed. He had worked in a restaurant in New York to help pay for school, but it wasn't this busy there. It was hard to believe Stars Hollow could produce more business for a restaurant than New York. But then again, this town was crazy.

"Nurr," Jess groaned when he felt someone poke his back.

"You're still on the clock," Luke said and poked him again.

Jess ached as he sat up, "How can I be on the clock if you don't have a time clock?"

"You know what I mean, now work."

After wiping some of the tables and checking on Caesar in the back, Jess sat back down at the counter and resumed his previous position. He was exhausted. Once again, someone poked his back. "There's nothing to do, I need a break," he moaned into the countertop.

"Upstairs, now." Jess heard Luke's footsteps heading up to the apartment. He struggled off the chair, his body throbbed. He had been working since opening, nonstop except for a quick breakfast and some extra fries. He followed Luke upstairs and glanced around the room. Luke was sitting at the table, but the bed was closer. Jess collapsed onto the soft, worn mattress and sighed. It felt so good on his back and legs.

"I've been pushing you too hard," Luke said after a few minutes of silence. Jess curled up with the stuffed dog Rory had bought him from Yale. He didn't reply. "I wanted you to prove yourself. You used to run out all the time, never telling me where you were going or who you'd be with. I needed to know this time that you were here to stay, that you'd keep your promises to work."

"And?" Jess said in a whisper.

Luke sighed. "And even though you proved, I'm still making you pay. I didn't want to give you the chance to slack off and turn back to the way you were before."

Jess opened his eyes and found Luke staring at him. "I can't go back, I'm better than that now. I'm smarter; I know what I did before was wrong. I told you I've changed."

"I know that now," Luke gave a weak smile. "You're off the clock."

"You still don't have a clock," Jess said groggily.

"You know what I mean," Luke said before he headed back down to the diner. Jess wasn't used to heart to hearts with his uncle. Luke had never been the talking type, and while he kept this conversation to a minimum, Jess knew he meant a lot of it.

Jess slowly moved, got undressed, and put his pajamas back on before returning to the bed. Safely under the covers, he clutched Rory's stuffed dog again, wishing it was her instead.

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**AN: Okay peoples! I am heading down to my concert, I'm so excited. I wanted to give you this now though, instead of making you wait til extremely late tonight. A preview of chapter 17: This is rated M for a reason! ;)**

**Please review, you guys did so fantastic for the last couple of chapters, keep it up!**


	17. WakeUp Call

**Disclaimer:** .:small envelope:. Starcastic, I regretfully inform you that you do not have the rights to Gilmore Girls nor anything else famous. Try again next year, Love Amy Sherman-Palladino.

**Note to anyone not in North America**: "Playing hooky" is skipping school, not the act of relations. Hehe…sex.

**AN:** Uh, this is where the M rating comes in ;). Exciting, isn't it?

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Rory smiled when she entered the apartment over the diner. Lorelai and she just returned from the shopping trip from hell. She made her mom cry in the middle of the mall. That was definitely not her intentions when she mentioned the wedding dress. _Oh well,_ she shook the thought out of her head.

After putting her bags on the kitchen table, Rory went back downstairs to get some food. Emotionally exhausting days made her hungry. Lorelai was downstairs flirting with Luke as if they hadn't been engaged for months. Her mom was such a teenager sometimes. "Fries and a burger, please," she told Luke. He whispered something to Lorelai and disappeared to get her food. "What'd he say?"

"Something naughty," Lorelai said with a large smile.

"Liar,"

"Well…" Lorelai's face seemed to be stuck in a goofy grin. She looked as if she had recovered from the shopping trip, but then again, they went and bought her more shoes, so that might have been part of it.

Luke came out with Rory's meal and she swore she saw him wink. "Okay…" Rory said slowly and backed up to the curtain heading upstairs. She sat back down at the table once she got into the apartment and ate as quietly as possible. Jess looked so adorable. He was sprawled across the bed, legs twisted in the blanket, her stuffed animal pinned underneath him. It wasn't even dark yet and he was fast asleep. _The life of diner-folk,_ she thought, amused. Rory and Lorelai were the farthest thing away from being morning people, and yet they were madly in love with two men who made a living out of being morning people.

The sun had started to set when Rory ate her last fry. The day hadn't turned out as planned. Nothing in her life had turned out as planned, but it always came around in the end. Her father wasn't in her life during her childhood, but now she had the best father figure she could ask for. Even Jess came back. He was fulfilling a dream she had, and he didn't even know it.

Jess stirred in his sleep while Rory was changing into her pajamas. It was warm in the apartment because of the cooking that was going on downstairs. She wore her Yale shorts and a tank top and she couldn't wait for her skin to be touching his again. When Rory finished changing, she stood at the end of the bed and laughed. There was no possible way to join him without waking him up. He was taking up the whole bed, and the covers were attempting to join him to create a single being.

Without making a noise, she kneeled on the end of the bed, which made him shift a bit from the weight. Rory crawled as close as she could to him, which accounted for her kneeling at his midsection. He was lying on the bed sideways instead of longways. That definitely wasn't going to work.

Instead of touching Jess, Rory reached for Scoobs, the poor stuffed dog that was hopelessly trapped under Jess's ribcage. It was actually the dog from _Are you my mother?_, but she thought Scooby had the better name. "Come on," she whispered, hoping that by removing the dog, Jess would either move so she could join him, or that he'd wake up on his own. When she thought she had Scoobs out, Jess rolled closer to her, trapping the dog and her arm.

"Ugh," he grunted, probably when he felt something hard.

"Jess," Rory whispered and leaned in to him. He grunted again when she said his name. "You are laying on my arm," she said a little louder.

"Five more minutes," he muttered and rolled the other direction, freeing her and Scoobs. It was like he was back in high school again, trying to avoid waking up at all costs.

Rory had an idea; one that she definitely wouldn't have done in high school. Jess was on his back, arms on either side of him, head nowhere near a pillow. She gently put Scoobs at the end of the bed and moved into position to wake him up.

With one leg on either side of his hips, she knelt, trying not to touch him or put too much pressure on her knees. She steadied herself by putting her hands on either side of his chest. She was literally on all fours overtop of him, yet he was still completely asleep. That was key for the plan though, she didn't want him to wake up to her like this. Rory smiled, knowing that this would definitely get his attention, even in his sleep.

Rory slowly lowered her upper body so that her breasts lightly touched his chest. _He didn't move…good._ She rested her body weight on her elbows and moved so her face was within centimeters of his. When she could feel his breath on her mouth, she was too tempted to wait any longer.

Jess lifted his head up and kissed back as soon as he felt her lips on his. _Well he's awake…_ Rory knew it would work. She tried to pull away a bit, but Jess followed. His arms bent to grab her hands and she gave in to the kiss. Rory lowered her body fully down on to his, her feet dangling over the edge of the bed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jess wrapped his arms around Rory, who just gave him the best wake up call he could ask for. He could feel her breasts push up against his ribcage. He felt the weight of her body on top of his and he wondered why they didn't do that more often. When he started to sit up, she straddled him again but didn't let go of the kiss. He finally opened his eyes to find that hers were tightly shut, she was enjoying the moment. She was wearing barely anything despite the fact that it was late autumn.

Rory pulled away when she felt him smile. "What?" He couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "What?" she asked, in that cute fake-whiny voice of hers.

He just smiled more, which looked like it irritated her, even though he knew it didn't. "Nothing," he said when he saw a change in her facial expression. They hadn't kissed or moved or done anything but stare at each other during the silence. Jess shifted his body weight, which caused Rory's eyes to widen in surprise. Within seconds, she was on her back, laying the proper way for the bed. He untangled the blankets from his legs and knelt over her in the same position she had been over him.

"Nice move," she commented, pretending to be miffed about why he was smiling.

"Nice PJs," Jess retorted and laughed. He draped the blanket over his back, creating a fort for them. "Well hi."

"Hi," she said, sheepishly. He couldn't see her very well, but she may had been blushing.

"Didn't think this far in advance?" he questioned. She was silent for a bit so he continued, "Because you can't expect to wake a guy up with a mind blowing kiss and then not do anything else." He put his hand on the bare skin between her shorts and tank.

She didn't tense up, so he continued to touch her. "Jess?" she finally said.

"Ror?"

"Just shut up and kiss me," she demanded.

He laughed a bit and obeyed, because he wouldn't want to make her mad. Jess lowered himself on top of her and took back the blanket fort so they could see each other again. "Okay," he whispered into her ear and kissed her neck. He left a line of kisses down her clavicle, back up the other side of her neck, and he played with the soft spot on her ear.

Rory's hands were running up and down his back, under his shirt. His fingers lightly caressed her face, gently tickling her. _She wants more,_ he thought after many minutes of just making out. He removed his hands from her face and put them back on her sides. She arched her back and he pushed up her tank top. He left it right below her breasts, but he had exposed enough skin on her stomach to sensually touch her. Rory moaned and pushed her chest up against him.

_I can't believe this is happening…_ Rory pulled Jess's shirt off and tossed it aside. They were almost in a sitting position, with Jess still leaning over her. She lifted her arms into the air and he was finally assured that it really was happening. He pulled her tank off gently and she pulled her body to his. They were skin to skin again, more than they had ever been before. He could feel every curve, he never wanted to move. Jess nibbled her neck and she whispered his name.

Jess could feel her hands at his waist, undoing the bow on his pajama pants. This definitely hadn't been on his mind when he went to sleep or he would've worn something a little more user-friendly. He let her continue as he kissed her all over, running his fingers up and down her back. Every few seconds she'd shiver or moan; both were incredibly sexy.

After she undid the knot, her hands went to his hips, trying to push the pants down. He pulled away from their kiss and grinned again. "When you're ready, you're ready," he said half-jokingly.

"You always choose to talk at the most inopportune moments!" she scoffed, trying harder to push down the waist of his pants. He knew they weren't going anywhere, especially since he was the one on top of her.

"And you use words like inopportune," he tried to wipe the smile off his face but it wouldn't go away. He was finally with Rory, and they were about to actually _be_ together. He grabbed her hands and held them away from his body. "Patience."

She pouted, which was always one of her most adorable facial expressions. Jess lifted his body off of hers and let go of her hands. He grasped the edge of her shorts, which were almost so short they weren't even there. _Thank god for fashion,_ he thought.

A rush of blood went to her face when he threw her shorts off to the side. He could tell she was embarrassed even though she had wanted this to happen for a long time. He smiled to calm her nerves and led her hands to his waist. He propped his waist up so that she could push down the pants.

Jess didn't blush when he was naked. He was with the one person he felt truly comfortable with. He winked at Rory and a small smile appeared on her face. She nodded and he leaned in…

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**OMG** **SEX!**

**Okay peoples, you better be so happy that I posted this...I'm using up my buffer in the process. I haven't been able to write for the last few days (with the exception of Sunday, when I just couldn't freaking sleep). I have actually been writing all day today, but for one of my classes. Actually, two of my classes. I have turned a 1 page narrative into (so far) 4.2 pages. It will probably be a full 5 or maybe even spill over onto the 6th page. Scary. **

**I have a question though, would you rather I post one somewhat short chapter every day, for the next week or so...or somewhat irradically, but have it be longer chapters? I vote for the short chapters, because 1) I get buffers, 2) they're easier to write, 3) You guys get a new chapter all the time. Please tell me what you'd like. **

**Thank you guys for getting me to 100 reviews! It's amazing! Can you get it to 110:D I know it might be a lot, but this is the chapter you've been waiting for!**


	18. Alice in Wonderland

**AN**: Happy? I am!

**Disclaimer:** I doubt that any of that last chapter would ever be in the show, but just to point it out, I do not own the characters, but I do own these actions.

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With Jess's arms around her, Rory sighed. Luke had already opened the diner; he came upstairs to use the bathroom before officially opening. Rory woke up when he opened the door, but she didn't move. She saw him go straight to the bathroom and back down stairs. Rory closed her eyes and relaxed into Jess.

Rory squeezed his arm and felt safe. It was Sunday; she had to go back to Yale that night. Stars Hollow was her home but she knew she had to go to school. She squeezed his arm again and tried to get as close as she could. Maybe Jess would be at Yale with her soon. It was weird, but she thought that would make Yale feel more like home.

She sighed and felt Jess tighten his hold on her. "Good morning," he whispered to her neck.

Rory smiled, what a good morning it was. "Did Luke give you the day off?" She wasn't complaining that they were able to relatively sleep in...she just didn't know if he was supposed to open or not.

"Something like that," he said and motioned her to turn over. "He apologized to me last night for working me too hard."

"Luke? The Luke that's downstairs?" Rory was surprised.

Jess smiled, "Well I don't know where he is right _now…_but yes, Luke."

"Weird," she looked into his deep brown eyes. "So no work today?" He shook his head and Rory frowned. "But…"

"I should head down there sometime, probably soon too," Jess said and she looked at him with her best puppy dog eyes. "Don't do that, you know I can't resist when you do that."

Rory giggled and stopped. "Okay, go. I should help Mom at the Dragonfly before I go back up to school." Jess stared at her with what looked to be disbelief. "It's Sunday, I have to go back." She frowned, but knew she had to go.

"You have to come back to the diner before you leave,"

"I promise I will, I bet I'll be starving!" She laughed when Jess obviously faked a frown, "And to see you of course."

"Because I bring the food,"

"Exactly!"

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They had lied in bed for at least a good half an hour before Rory left to see her mom. Jess took his time getting dressed before heading down to the diner. He had to thank Luke for not waking him up at the crack of dawn.

When Jess pushed away the curtain to enter the diner, he found the place packed…with more than a few pairs of eyes staring right at him. He tried to ignore the looks and grabbed his apron. "What is with these people?" Jess asked Luke, not even trying to whisper.

"You know," Luke said and glared at him.

Jess stepped away from him and took an order pad. _What is wrong with all of them?_ He was so deep in thought that he just went to a table and asked if they had been served.

"We haven't seen you around much outside of the diner, honey," Babette commented. "Where ya hiding?"

Jess knew he should've stayed very far away from the gossip queens of Stars Hollow. He was so excited when he came back from Yale that he somewhat spilled the beans. He had been hiding from them, but not voluntarily. Spending so much time at the diner helped but he couldn't avoid them forever. "When I'm not here, I'm sleeping." He poised the pen over the order pad. "What can I get you?"

"You know, we saw Rory come downstairs a few minutes ago," Miss Patty ignored his question. "She's not staying with Lorelai?"

He sighed and shook his head, "No, she's not."

"Are they fighting?" Babette questioned. "I hate it when they fight."

"They're not fighting," he sighed, it was turning into the Spanish Inquisition. "Why aren't you asking Rory these questions?"

"She ran outta here so fast," Miss Patty said.

"Almost tripped too," Babette laughed.

Miss Patty nodded, "She ran into a stool and then almost forgot to open the door." Jess could imagine the scene unfold; why didn't she just leave naked, that would have gathered as much attention. "Where was she going so fast?"

"She's helping Lorelai out at the Dragonfly," Jess said and noticed Luke's reflection in the window. "Hold on." He went over to Luke, leaving Patty and Babette in a huff. "What?"

"You're not working,"

"I'm being cross-examined by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum," he motioned to Patty and Babette, who were leaning towards them, trying to listen. "That definitely wasn't my choice!"

Luke made a growling noise and disappeared into the kitchen. _What happened to him? _Luke was a polar opposite of his behavior last night. _What is going on here? Everyone's acting crazier than usual._

"Jess!" Babette's voice carried over to him. "Get that cute butt back over here!"

He sighed and headed back over, all hopes of taking their order gone. "What?" His tone reflected his youth, he felt like he was 17 again. This was the kind of thing he wouldn't have taken the last time he was in Stars Hollow. Jess took a deep breath and remembered that they meant well. "Sorry, what were you saying before I left?"

"You said that Rory went to the Dragonfly…why would she leave here so quickly?" Miss Patty got the conversation back on track.

Jess shoved the order pad into his back pocket and sat in the extra chair at their table. He ignored the grunt that came from the kitchen, probably from Luke who most likely noticed he wasn't even pretending to work. He was confused on why she left in a hurry as well.

Rory took her time getting dressed while he made coffee. She even stayed for a cup before heading out. She didn't seem to be in much of a rush. "I don't know," he finally told the women, who were staring at him intently while he was silent.

"Well are you fighting?"

He thought back to the night before and smiled. "No, definitely not."

"I know that smile, young man," Miss Patty said like a warning.

Jess looked at her and raised his eyebrow, "What do you mean, 'that smile'?"

"You're in love!"

"Oh," he smiled, "Maybe I am." He started to stand and Babette pulled him down.

"You never told us about that interview," she reminded him. "You can't leave us hanging. Nobody in this town knows you except for Lorelai, Luke and Rory. We couldn't get to Rory, Luke said he didn't know anything and you and Lorelai have never really gotten along…"

Jess realized why Luke was upset. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum got their hands on him before Jess came down. He probably thought he was leaving town or leaving Rory or just going to stop helping at the diner like he said he would. Jess leaned forward and they did the same, "Yale," he said and stood up quickly. He headed to the kitchen, grabbed Luke and dragged him to the back room. The word was going to be spread through the whole town within around 15 minutes, judging from how surprised they were when he told them. He had to set things right with Luke before any of the crazy townspeople could.

"I was cooking there!" Luke said when Jess shoved him into the storeroom. "What the hell is going on?"

"Yale!" Jess said loudly, Luke's attitude had upset him. He was always judged like he had done something wrong, this wasn't wrong.

"What about Yale?" Luke said, impatiently. "Rory goes there and she will continue going there. She is not going to drop out of school for you!"

"Why would you think I'd want her to drop out of school?" Jess matched Luke's tone and volume. Everyone in the diner could probably hear him but he didn't care. "She's the ONLY one that wanted me to STAY in school! I love her and she is going to be the best damn journalist there is. She's going to stay at Yale as long as she wants to, and I am going to be there with her!"

Luke's mouth hung open in shock, "What?"

"I'm going to go to Yale," Jess said and left the storeroom. He took the order pad out of his pocket and went to a table that looked as if it hadn't been served. "What can I get you?" he asked and wrote down their orders as if nothing had happened; as if he hadn't told Luke he loved Rory and was going to go to Yale with her, as if he hadn't told the entire diner at the same time.

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**You guys are AWESOME with reviews! Thank you so much!**

**I had a huge rant in here, but screw it. I love that you're reading and that you like it. I also have my buffer back! Yay for a little inspiration (which happened kind of haphazardly...) Please, keep reading. Even if you don't review, I love the fact that I am making people's lives more enjoyable. If anyone wants to email me to talk about anything, go ahead, it's starcastic(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm curently talking to 3-4 different people that I met through here, and you're all fabulous! ****Please keep reviewing, they make me so happy!**


	19. Seriously? Seriously

**Disclaimer:** I am (not) the ruler of all that is Gilmore girls.

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Rory went to Lorelai's house to get her car and drove to the Dragonfly Inn. When she got there, Michel was on the phone, taking a reservation in his usual rude manner. She headed off to the kitchen to grab some coffee before finding her mom. "Hi Sookie," she said enthusiastically as she grabbed the pot of coffee.

"Hi honey, I haven't seen you around much this weekend," Sookie said and continued stirring something on the phone. "What have you been up to?"

"Mom and I went shopping yesterday," Rory said and sat down on a stool. "We added to her collection of shoes…"

"I heard, she's wearing a pair today,"

"She's very happy about her shoes,"

Rory wondered if she should tell Sookie about the wedding dress incident. She didn't know if Lorelai had told her anything; they were best friends. She hadn't told her mom certain things, and they were as close as two people could get. Then again, the being related by blood helped on that one. She decided to let her mom tell Sookie, so she asked, "Where is Mom anyways?"

"I think she's holding a meeting with the maids,"

"Oh… Is there anything I can do until she's finished?"

Sookie laughed, "In the kitchen?"

"Oh god, no," Rory said quickly. "I guess I'll ask Michel…"

"Kay, come see me again before you leave,"

"As long as you've got coffee," Rory joked and slowly made her way back to the entrance of the hotel. She really didn't want to deal with Michel. Rory wanted to talk to her mom badly and she hated waiting.

Instead of going to see Michel, Rory veered off and found her way to the sitting area and grabbed a book. She wasn't too interested in it though; she found her leg bouncing up and down and had to stop it.

"Fruit of my loins!" Lorelai said cheerfully when she saw her daughter.

Rory looked up and smiled, her mom looked happy. "Finally, I've been in here forever," she said and motioned to the book.

Lorelai looked at the book and laughed, "You're on page two." Rory looked back down at the book and sighed. "Got something on your mind?"

"Well now that you say it," Rory said and placed the book back in the bookshelf. "Can we go somewhere to talk?"

Lorelai noticed how concerned she looked and nodded, "Let's go." She grabbed Rory's hand and then passed Michel on their way to the stairs. "We're going to be in room four, don't bug us."

They could hear Michel scoff as they made their way up the stairs. "What's wrong honey?" Lorelai asked when they sat down on the chairs in the room.

Rory leaned back and looked at the ceiling for a moment, silent. She finally looked back at Lorelai, whose face was scrunched up in wonder and worry. "Nothing's wrong Mom."

"Then don't let Mommy worry like that, okay kid?" Lorelai got out of her chair and knelt on the floor next to Rory. "If nothing's wrong, what else is going on?"

Rory looked at her mom, wondering how to tell her. "We tell each other everything, right?"

"Everything," Lorelai repeated.

She couldn't look at her mom while she said this, "I slept with Jess." Rory closed her eyes and turned back to Lorelai. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the horrible reaction she was sure she'd get.

Lorelai was quiet, trying to think of something appropriate to say. "Well, we tell each other everything…" Rory opened her eyes and she felt guilty. "I'm glad you told me…"

"Are you? I wasn't sure…I needed to tell you because I never want to have a secret from you and you would obviously find out eventually because we did it above your favorite eating establishment. I also had to tell you because I just thought.. I don't know, I just thought you should know," Rory said without taking a breath.

"Well I'm not going to look at that bed the same way," Lorelai said and laughed.

Rory smiled and she just had to ask, "Why are you glad I told you?"

Lorelai grasped her hand, "Remember before the speech on C-SPAN? Paris came over the night before and I brought pizza?" Rory nodded. "I over-heard you two talking. You said you hadn't had sex – with Dean or Jess. I was so proud of you. I knew you would tell me, I just didn't think it would be with Jess."

"Mom?"

"Yes," she said, concerned.

"I slept with Logan too, you know."

Lorelai gasped, "In the same night?" They both had a good laugh before she continued. "I knew about that. Another question, why didn't you tell me then?"

Rory shrugged, "I guess I wasn't sure if I was really into it. I don't think I took it seriously. I didn't want to tell you if it was going to be a one time thing, then when it progressed it wasn't that special."

"It should always be special," Lorelai said comforting her daughter. "So this – with Jess… It's serious?"

After a short silence, Rory whispered, "I think it is."

"And is my baby happy?"

"I think I am," Rory thought about their talk, about Jess going to Yale. "I am."

"Now, is there anything else you're going to make me worry about before I go back to work?" Lorelai said and stood up.

"Yeah, there sorta is,"

Lorelai sat down on the bed and faced Rory, "Good? Bad?"

"Good,"

"So…"

Rory paused, once again in an awkward situation. "Jess is going to go to Yale."

XXXXXXXXXX

After she assisted a shell-shocked Lorelai back downstairs to officially not do any work for the rest of the day, Rory went home to get her stuff and headed to the diner. Lorelai had taken the news well. She only fainted once. Rory had to pinch her several times and promised to take a lie-detector test to prove that she was telling the truth. Lorelai didn't have much to say on the matter, probably too lost in thought to create words – a rarity in the Gilmore family: even Emily was never at a loss for words.

Jess and Lorelai had gotten along very well since he came back. They had the inside joke about cooking, and they hadn't had any fights that Rory knew of. The problem was that Lorelai was still suspicious of Jess, Rory knew that. She would always be; it came with the Mom territory. It was one of the few places that Lorelai played the Mom card, and Rory didn't mind. She just knew that she had to prove it to her mom that Jess had changed. Yale was definitely a big change to the rebel that flunked his senior year of high school.

The town square seemed a lot more active than when she left the diner earlier. Kirk was holding a sign upside down; she turned her head to read it but almost veered off the road. It couldn't be that important if the writing was so small you couldn't see it from the street, she thought. Rory parked in front of the diner and noticed how busy it was as she walked in front of the window.

Almost all of the eyes inside focused on Rory once they noticed her. There wasn't much food on the tables and everyone stopped talking. Rory halted in front of the window and stared them back. Didn't they know that staring was rude? She looked for Luke or Jess, but couldn't see either of them behind the counter. _Maybe that's why nobody has any food…_

Rory sighed audibly and decided to enter the diner. Something was going on and she was going to find out. The silence was deafening and all eyes were following her still. They weren't even trying to hide it. Rory did her best to ignore it and found Caesar in the kitchen. She shot him a questioning look.

"Nobody's ordering. I've been sitting here for two hours and nobody has ordered anything except for drinks. I've had nothing to do,"

She thought he looked sad, but this was a guy who actually enjoyed his job. "Why don't you make me a burger and fries – extra cheese and chili on the fries." Caesar stood up happily and turned back on the grill. She always liked making people happy; plus she got amazing food. It was a win-win situation. "Caesar, where are Luke and Jess?"

His body tensed up and she sensed the eyes on her again. "I, uh, don't know," he stuttered.

"Okay," she said slowly. "I'll come back in a few minutes for the food."

Caesar relaxed a bit and continued cooking her food. Rory turned around and found everyone staring at her still. She walked in front of the bar and sat down on one of the stools. "Okay, what's going on?"

Many people looked away at her question, but she noticed a few people formulating their answers. "I'm waiting," she said after a short silence. It was unnerving to have so many people look at you without knowing why.

"Jess loves you," said a woman in the corner who was looking away.

"And he's going to Yale," another voice added. Everyone else nodded to produce the effect of twenty or so bobbleheads staring at her.

Rory thought for another minute before talking, "You know this, how?"

The group looked at each other, trying to silently decide who to talk. "Jess basically yelled it loud enough for the whole town to hear," someone finally admitted.

An elaboration wasn't long after, "Babette and Patty were here."

Rory sighed and closed her eyes to avoid the scrutiny. She didn't know how to deal with this. She knew the word would have gotten out somehow, but this was weird. Rory and Jess were going to be the topic of the town until something equally as crazy happened…which could thankfully be tomorrow with the rate of insanity in the townspeople. Rory could smell her food and turned around. Caesar was holding two plates of greasy goodness and she smiled when she saw them. "Thank you," she said and took them from him, heading upstairs.

Halfway up the stairs the diner erupted into a loud conversation and she could hear Caesar trying to quiet everyone down and take their orders. Nothing like an awkward public moment to make people hungry. Rory ignored the voices coming from the diner, but by the time she reached the top of the stairs, she could hear two more voices.

"You can't just say things like that with no explanation!" Luke's voice carried through the closed door on the apartment.

"I've gone over it a hundred times!" Jess replied.

Rory sat down on the top step and started to eat her food, not wanting to interrupt the obvious argument. She focused on what was being said though; she needed more information as well.

"I finished high school, I went to college already. I'm going to be with Rory at Yale and that's all you need to know!"

"You just came back after years, and you expect her to be happy and not question you?"

"She knows me! I know her! It doesn't matter how long we've been gone, why don't you understand this?" Rory smiled, Jess was right. She didn't feel the need to question him. She knew he'd tell her everything eventually.

"Are you going to live up there? Because you asked if you could live here first!"

"Of course I am. I can't start until the spring, so I'm here until January. I'm going to look for a place to live soon. I saved up money while I was in New York. I applied for financial aid. I've got everything settled." Rory could hear Jess's voice calm down. She couldn't wait to talk to him.

"And what about Rory? I saw you two this morning," Luke said, causing Rory to stop mid-chew. "What are you two planning on doing?"

"That's between us. We have a lot to figure out before anything serious happens."

"And you're not going to leave again? You're serious about all of this?" Luke sounded concerned, just like Lorelai did when Rory was talking to her earlier.

"Completely serious. I'll never do that to Rory again,"

"Okay," Luke said, and there was a silence. Rory grabbed her plates and ran down the stairs as quietly as she could. She turned the corner into the back room just as Luke headed down the stairs.

Rory waited until she could hear him taking orders again before heading up to the apartment. She knocked on the door quietly.

"Hey," Jess said and smiled.

Rory kissed him hard on the lips and pushed him farther into the apartment, embracing him. "Hi," she said when she had him against a wall.

"What a greeting," he said and laughed. "Why?..."

"No reason," she said, shrugging. "I've got a couple hours before I have to go back to Yale," Rory giggled and winked.

"I think I've got an addict on my hands," Jess said and kissed her again, holding her close.

Rory broke the kiss to speak again, "And is that a problem?"

"Never."

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**Wow, that was a whole lot longer than I thought it was going to be. Chapter 20 sucks, just a warning in advance. Don't get too excited when I post it. I was having writing issues.**

**Please review, you guys have been awesome on that. **


	20. The Big Question

**AN: **I fixed the beginning and rewrote the second half. This chapt shouldn't suck nearly as much as I thought it was going to! I actually think it's pretty awesome..

**Disclaimer**: I love the show and don't claim to have any ownership of it. I wish I did though, like stock or something…then I'd be like, rich!

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The commotion in the diner had quieted down considerably by the time Jess and Rory headed downstairs an hour or so later. As soon as they rounded the corner and pushed away the curtain, all eyes were on them. It was a circus and they were the main act. "Get out of here," Luke growled at them, "They'll never order as long as they're focused on you."

Jess nodded and calmed walked Rory through the crowd and out the door. "What was that all about?"

Rory squeezed his hand and smiled, "You should know, you're the one that announced not only our relationship but also the whole Yale thing to the entire town. You know they're addicted to gossip like crack."

"Are you sure they're not just addicted to crack?" Jess laughed and stopped in front of Rory's car. "It would explain a lot."

Rory thought about it for a while and finally burst out into a grin. "I guess it would! What are we doing?" she asked when she noticed they had stopped.

"How's your memory? This is your car,"

"I just don't understand why…"

Jess pulled a DVD out of his back pocket, "Movie night!"

Rory's face distorted, confused. "And we're in front of my car, why?"

"Take the movie and go back to Yale. Unpack anything you brought down for the weekend, get comfortable. Order any kind of food, except for Indian food because you'll NEVER get the smell out, and wait," Jess said and motioned to her car.

"I like Indian food," she joked. "What will I be waiting for?"

Jess didn't answer; he only winked as he headed back into the diner.

"Didn't I tell you to get out of here?" Luke asked loudly as Jess headed to the apartment.

"Yup," he yelled down the stairs. Jess gathered up some clothes, his toothbrush, and other things that he didn't want to be without for a few days. He shoved it all in his cargo bag and headed back downstairs. "I'll be back in a few days. Things should calm down by then!"

Luke was speechless when Jess just casually walked out the diner's front door. He threw down the towel he was holding and ran outside. "What do you think you're doing?"

Jess sighed, "I told you, I have to find a place to live in New Haven. There's only a month left before I have to move in for school. If I don't get something soon, I'm going to be living in a shitbucket."

"What about your obligation here?"

"Look," he said, losing his patience. "Once I find a place, I promise I'll come back and work overtime until I have to move. You said I'd proved myself, but I will continue proving myself until you realize that I'm not really going anywhere. You know how much Rory comes down here; I'll be here just as often. I'll help every time we come down."

Luke's expression softened, then distorted. "We? You're sure everything will work out with Rory?"

Jess nodded, "I hope so…if not, it'll be really awkward when I ask her to move in with me."

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Lorelai struggled up the steps to the diner, ignoring the closed sign on the door. She couldn't decide on a table or the bar so she stood in between, wavering. "Coffee," she grumbled.

Luke looked at her in surprise, not hearing the bell on the door ring. "What's wrong with you?"

"Coffee!" she said, more demanding.

He poured a mug of coffee and walked over from behind the counter to give it to her. "Don't you want to sit down?"

With a shrug, Lorelai slumped down into the chair, deciding the back support was more necessary than height. "Ugh," she grunted and drank her coffee.

Luke pulled up a chair next to her and held the hand not nursing the coffee mug. "Bad day?"

"I suppose you know?" she turned to face him. "What's going on exactly?"

It was Luke's turn to sigh. He didn't know either. "I think they're growing up?" He tightened his grip on her hand and leaned back in his chair as well. "Weird."

"You're telling me. It seems that just yesterday she was my innocent little girl: eyes set on Harvard, still thinking boys had cooties."

"It was just yesterday that he was fighting everyday and causing town drama… Oh wait, that happened TODAY," Luke said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Lorelai laughed, "Hey, there wasn't a fight today. This is Stars Hollow, there's _always_ town drama."

"I guess you didn't hear about the reason everyone in the town knows about Yale too," Luke sighed. Lorelai raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Jess and I had it out in the back room, loud enough for all of Connecticut to hear."

"Ah,"

"Yeah…"

"So, Yale. How's that going to work?" Lorelai asked, hoping he had more information than she did.

Luke looked away from her and shook his head. "He's asking her to move in with him."

"Meaning…" Her brain didn't want to process that bit of info. "One roof, one bed…"

Luke nodded.

"Wow," she said and leaned over to him. "Can we go back to our one roof, one bed?"

"You head back and I'll be there in a few minutes. I'll finish closing and I'll be there."

Lorelai stood up slowly and headed to the door. "In case you forget, I'll be the incredibly confused yet still incredibly sexy woman passed out on the couch."

"Because stairs are so much work,"

XXXXXXXXXXX

A few hours after Rory left, Jess parked in her dorm's lot. He stopped at the mall on his way there. His small purchase was on the seat next to him; his duffle was in the backseat. Rory had well enough time to get comfortable, relaxed and order food for the movie night…He just had to actually get out of the car and go inside.

_Why am I so nervous?_ He wondered why he couldn't make himself get out of the car. _It's just a movie night! You've had tons of these._ He couldn't convince himself, this was different. He struggled with the door handle and finally got out. Jess gathered his bags and headed to her dorm room. _Just knock._

Rory answered the door after one knock. "Hi, it's about time. I can only lie around doing nothing for so long…"

Jess laughed. She was in Yale sweatpants with a Yale t-shirt covered by a Yale sweatshirt. "They should pay you for advertising," he said and closed the door behind him.

Rory grabbed a bag off the floor and gave it to him, "You too, future Yale-ee."

"Yale-ee? Can't they expel you for that?" Jess asked and opened the bag. "Oh jeez." There was Yale pants, shirts, sweatshirts. He wouldn't need to buy new clothes for a month.

Rory grinned from ear to ear, obviously reveling in the fact that he was going to be at Yale soon. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," he said and scooped her up into a hug. "I love _you_," he whispered.

"Get a room," Paris said from her doorway.

Jess separated from Rory and turned to Paris.

"You didn't give me a chance to tell you that Paris was back from Doyle's," Rory explained. "She doesn't mind you staying, but as the woman said…"

"Get a room," Paris repeated and retreated back into her room.

Jess looked at Rory, downhearted. He couldn't put any moves on her during the movie, sad. Rory laughed at his pitiful attempt at a frown. Jess gave up and grinned anyways. "So, room?"

"Movie night?" She asked, motioning to the food on the table and the movie ready to play on the TV. "Or had you forgotten?"

"I know, why don't I change into the wonderful merchandise you gave me and I'll be right out to join you?"

Rory nodded and sat down on the couch. Jess took his bags into Rory's room, placing his duffle in the corner and the two other bags on the bed. He changed into his new sweatpants and t-shirt but forwent the sweatshirt. He placed the rest of his new Yale clothing line down on the floor next to his duffle and checked the bag he got at the mall.

Jess extracted a small velvet box from the bag and opened it, checking that the contents were safe inside. He smiled, anxiousness building up inside of him. He tucked the box into the pant's waistband and went back out to Rory.

"Welcome back," Rory said as he sat down on the couch. "Movie?"

"No," he grabbed her hand that was holding the remote. "I have to do something first."

Rory looked confused but put the remote back and held Jess's hand again. "What?"

Jess pulled out the small box and opened it, his gaze never leaving her eyes. "Rory, will you…"

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Think about it peoples. I gave it away. I just wanted to get you guys all excited! I love it!**

**Reviews are oh so welcome! I'd like to get to 140, so please help me get there:D**


	21. She Answers

**AN**: Heh, I bet you are all going to HATE me.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own GG, how many freakin times do I have to say it!

XXXXXXXXXX

_Jess pulled out the small box and opened it, his gaze never leaving her eyes. "Rory, will you…"_

Rory stared at the box, her mouth agape. There was a key inside, not a key to a locket, but a pink, uncut key to a door. It was strapped in with silver ribbon, but it was still out of place in the velvet jewelry box. She looked up into his eyes and he finished his question, "move in with me?"

Rory gawked at him. She couldn't find any words, which seemed to be happening to her a lot recently. After a short silence, she felt her head nod, "Yes." Jess closed the box, dropped it on their laps and leaned in to hug her. "You almost gave me a heart attack," she said, still slightly shell-shocked.

Jess laughed and pulled back, "I know, you should've seen the look on your face! I wish I had a camera!" He winced when she playfully hit him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry; I just wanted to make it special…"

"Don't apologize," Rory said, "The next time you give me a small velvet box and ask me an important question, I better not be wearing sweats." She leaned back into the couch, her heart still pounding from his 'proposal'.

Jess scooted closer to her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Next time?" He asked and chuckled. "What makes you think there's going to be a next time?"

"Not now Mariano," Rory elbowed him in the side. "I'm still recovering. Recovery time is not a time for jokes."

"Is it time to talk about what's going to happen?"

Rory thought about it for a while before answering, "After the movie. Let's just wait until then?"

"Okay," Jess agreed and squeezed her close. He used his feet to get the remote since he didn't want either of them to move. Risky Business came on the screen when he pressed play, submitting them into a world of crazy teens, reintroducing them to a time where Tom Cruise wasn't crazy.

Jess focused most of his attention to Rory, who was still curled up against him. Inside he had a hoot about the Yale garb they were both wearing. He was so excited about living with her, somewhere, anywhere…yet it made it even better that it was going to be at Yale. He had three years to get here, and it was worth it.

Rory looked at the TV intently, although she hadn't seen the movie before, she couldn't have told you what had happened. Jess's arm was tight around her, holding her against his body. He was warm; his chest moved with his breath, she could feel his heartbeat. She was happy. She loved not only him, but also being with him. He made her feel special, and not short-bus special. She felt loved.

The movie ended before either of them realized it. They saw the white text of the credits scroll by and both were reluctant to move. Jess wanted to hold her forever, Rory wanted to be held forever. "The movie's over," Jess finally said.

Rory nodded, but the silence continued. The DVD had finally returned to the main screen before she made an attempt to speak. "Where?"

"I don't know yet," he said while gently stroking her hand. "That's why the key's uncut."

"And pink," she giggled, lightening the mood. Rory took her head away from his body and turned to look at him. "This is one of those times I want to see those beautiful brown eyes."

A blush started to creep into Jess's cheeks, but he couldn't help it. He'd have to get used to compliments soon, because Rory could shell them out like a pro. "You know, we might want to clean up before we talk. The food is going to go bad soon." He motioned to the table of untouched takeout and junk food.

Rory grudgingly stood up and picked up some of the Chinese packages. "Well I'm not doing it alone," she joked, referring to the fact that he had just watched her stand up and bend over. "Come on."

"It was my idea in the first place, don't pretend that it wasn't," he said as he got up and picked up more of the containers. Jess followed her to the fridge, wishing she wasn't wearing such loose fitting sweats.

"I know what you're thinking," she said and he blushed again.

They finished putting away all of the food and Rory headed back to the couch. "No, let's go to your room," Jess recommended.

"We have to talk though," Rory whined. "_That's_ not talking."

Jess laughed, "Paris told us to get a room, so we are going to. Plus, you do too talk!"

It was Rory's turn to blush as he headed into her room. "That was so…"

"Right?" Jess finished, laying on the bed. She was standing in the doorway, illuminated from behind. "Come on, the bed's comfy."

Rory shook her head, "I know it is – it's my bed!" she walked over to the side of the bed. "It's just that…"

"You can't be uncomfortable with me in bed, you weren't earlier," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"It's not that, you perv. You're on my side!"

Jess laughed again and moved over to the other side. "Are we okay now?"

Rory smiled and leaned against him again. "Uh huh…"

"I thought you wanted to look at me while we talked,"

Rory ignored him and curled up to him tighter. "But this is so much more comfortable."

"Okay…So you asked where,"

"And you said you didn't know."

"I don't know," Jess said and started to play with her hair. "I wanted you to help in that process."

"I do know more about the area," Rory confirmed. "And I've been looking at some places for me and Paris to live."

"Paris?" Jess said, not happy at the thought of living with the commanding woman.

"Yeah, I thought about it during the movie…" Rory explained. "Doyle and Paris have been getting pretty serious. I'm going to suggest that they live together so that I don't have to feel guilty about leaving her all alone."

Jess sighed in relief. "So have you found anywhere good?"

"We can look at them later,"

"I only have a few days to find somewhere, then I have to go back to the Hollow. I promised Luke I'd work full time until I officially moved."

"We'll need the money," Rory said, saddened that he had to leave. "Rent's expensive here."

"Lucky for me, I should be getting financial aid," Jess said happily, trying to lift her spirits. "The Renaissance Fair doesn't produce much money for Liz, and Jimmy's a bum, so the government takes pity on me. They did for SUNY. I just want to help Luke out, so he doesn't worry about me up here."

"I understand,"

"Plus, we'll be going back a lot, and we want to be on good terms with everyone in that crazy town,"

Rory smiled, "Do you think we'll still be the center of controversy by next weekend?"

"Naw, Kirk will have done something crazy by then,"

"Good ol' Kirk," Rory said groggily.

"Ror?"

Rory murmured, snuggling up against him.

"I love you," Jess said and pulled the covers up over them. He continued playing with her hair, enjoying the small movements she made in her sleep.

_Finally,_ he thought, _we're going to be together._

XXXXXXXXX

Rory woke up in a tangled mess of blankets and Jess. The sun was shining through the window and her alarm was going off on her nightstand. It was the _beep, beep, beep_ that took her out of a heavenly sleep. She had fallen asleep sometime while talking to Jess – she felt bad but was sure he understood.

The room was quiet after she detangled her body from his and turned off the alarm. It wasn't early by a normal person's standards, but it was for her. She ignored the mirror on her way to the common room for coffee.

Paris was sitting on the couch, holding the box from last night. "Well," she said when Rory entered, looking completely disheveled. "Were you going to tell me?"

"Paris," Rory said on her way to the coffee pot. "It's not what you think. Open it." She walked over to the couch, sipping her gracious caffeine fix. "See?" she said when Paris opened the box to reveal the uncut key.

"What is this?" she asked, confused.

"We're going to live together. He decided to ask me by giving me a heart attack,"

"Oh," Paris said, snapping the box shut and returning it to the coffee table.

"Paris, we've been living together for two and a half years… I know you're probably pretty sick of me,"

"Stop trying to make me not want to live with you. I'm going to get stuck with some freshman who won't shower, doesn't read, and probably watches MTV,"

"Or…"

"What?"

"You've been with Doyle for a while," Rory hinted. "Maybe?"

"I don't think so," Paris said quietly.

"Have you thought about it before?"

"No," she admitted.

"Do you think you could be ready for it?"

"Obviously not as much as you," Paris said, jealous. "I'll think about it."

"If not, remember," Rory said, getting up and walking back to her door, "You can always turn the freshman into your slave." She saw Paris smile before she closed her bedroom door quietly behind her.

"Did I hear Rory Gilmore say I could turn her into my slave?" Jess asked, sitting up in the bed. "I think I like that idea."

Rory wiggled her finger at him and leaned against the door drinking her coffee. "No, you didn't. I think I just got Paris' OK on moving in with you."

"Well now that we have the Godfather's permission, all we have to do is find somewhere,"

"After class," she walked over to him and handed him the rest of her coffee. "I have to make up for not being there Friday." Rory went to her closet and took out a pair of black pants and a button down top.

Jess relaxed on the bed and drank the rest of the coffee. "Why don't you give me the addresses you have and I'll find a few others while you're in class?"

"They're in a file on my computer, have at it," she said as she packed up her notes and books. Rory changed in front of him, not embarrassed anymore. She brushed her hair and put on a bit of makeup. "Why don't you meet me at the Yale Daily News office at two? Bring my laptop, and you can watch me work for a while before we head out."

Jess nodded, he wanted to see the office where Rory spent a lot of her time. "I'll be there."

"I love you," Rory called out as she was leaving her dorm – causing Paris to gag and Jess to grin with delight.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Oh I just opened myself up to a whole bunch of possibilities! Yay!**

**We probably won't see Stars Hollow for a while (just phone stuff), because I have Yale things to take care of. Sorry to everyone who thought they were going to get engaged (silly!). It's wayyy too early for that, he JUST came back! Many people did guess it right though, so I don't feel _too_ bad. :D **

**I love the reviews, you guys gave me twice as much as I asked for yesterday! I'm so happy I took a break from studying to do this, but unfortunately I must resume my learnin' or I fail. Stupid being a good student, this shit is hard.**

**Please review again, I'd like to get to 160 (shouldn't be hard, since I'm at 152 right now). Have a good day/night/whatever, hope your weekend and next week aren't going to be as shitty as mine!**


	22. The Perfect Place

**AN**: FEVER! Fever when you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight! -- I have cabin fever!

**Disclaimer**: WOO THIS ISN'T MINE I DON'T WANT TO GET SUED PLEASEEE!ONEE111!

XXXXXXXXX

Jess found a campus map in the bag Rory had given him the night before and put it in his back pocket. He pulled his messenger bag out of his duffle and put Rory's iMac in. He had found at least another 10 places to look at, but since he didn't know the area the only clue to where they were was Google Maps. It didn't really help him much though, he needed Rory's help.

It was a little before two when he left her dorm. According to the map it wasn't very far away, just a few buildings away from the library where she made him smell Nietzsche. It was hard to remember when he first came up here, but the memories were there. He walked past the building and eventually found what he believed was the YDN office. Jess looked at his watch and it was only a few minutes after two. Rory always expected guys to be late, but he didn't know if this counted.

Jess reached to open the door and almost got run over by somebody leaving the office. "Move it or lose it," the guy said and pushed Jess out of the way. The door was left open after him so he went inside. There were ten desks in two rows of five; he spotted Rory sitting at one in the back corner next to the window. He walked down the center of the rows and went behind her desk, looking at what she was writing.

"Hey, this is just a rough draft," she said and minimized the window. "My eyes only. Hey, you're early."

"See, I knew you expected me to be late. I should always take that for granted," he smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "I brought your laptop, and I found some more places. I don't know if any of them will be what we're looking for though."

"Well lets see," Rory said and took her iMac from him. "Let's just write the addresses down. I'll finish the rough draft of this article and you can look around for a while. I'm sure you're wondering how this place works."

"You know me too well," he said and left her to do the article. Most of the other desks were occupied by people he assumed were other YDN employees. Jess wandered around, taking peeks at other people's work. Nobody outright told him to go away, but he could sense a vibe with some people.

There wasn't really much to see in the office, so he grabbed a cup of coffee and went through a door. What he saw were piles and piles of old newspapers. Definitely not his fancy, so he stepped back out and closed the door to the scary room. There was another door that was unlabeled so he opened it slowly. It was just a conference room, but it was empty so he took a chair and sat down, waiting for Rory. He remembered how hard she worked on the newspaper at Chilton; she could take another hour to finish that article. He pulled out a copy of Brave New World from his bag along with a pen. He leaned back in the chair and started jotting down a note in the margin when he heard the door open.

Jess looked up at the noise and found himself staring at the guy who beat the shit out of him a few weeks ago – Logan. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed bastard was here, in the vary office he chose to relax in. Jess stood up, suddenly not caring about the book. He just wanted to get out of there, with Rory.

Logan shut the door behind him and stood right in front of the handle. "What are you doing here?"

"Just move, I'm leaving," Jess said, feeling his temper rising. "Move." His voice had turned into a deep growl, a tone most people obeyed. Logan didn't move. "I just want to leave."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for Rory, which we're going to _leave_ now, if you don't mind," Jess was getting more impatient each passing second that Logan didn't move. Logan's pretty-boy face just smirked; he thought he had the control in the situation. Jess thought differently. He told himself that he didn't need to start a fight. Logan would move eventually – if he knew what was good for him.

Jess backed away and sat down in the chair he was in before. He swung his bag up onto his lap and reached inside for his book. He grabbed his cell also, and held the phone in the middle of his book so Logan wouldn't see. The preppy kid was still standing in front of the door, staring at him. Jess knew he wanted him to pick a fight, especially with Rory in the next room. He wasn't going to give Logan what he wanted.

**Confer room. Now, **Jess texted to Rory's cell phone. He slid the book down close to the top of his bag and pushed his cell in, raising his book back up again. It wasn't the most covert operation in the world, but Logan still didn't move or say anything. Jess continued reading, just waiting for her to show up.

There was a knock on the door: it startled Logan and made Jess very happy. He calmly placed the book back in his bag and waited. It was up to Logan to open the door since he was the one keeping it closed. Jess stared at him, treated Logan the way he had treated Jess. "Aren't you going to open it?" It was hard to fight the grin that wanted to spread across his face.

Logan was obviously at a crossroads, but he stubbornly opened the door after there was another knock. "What are you doing?" Rory's concerned voice practically screamed at Logan. She rushed to Jess and turnedto glare at Logan. "What were you planning on doing? Leaving him for dead again?"

Logan was speechless, which made Jess even happier. He didn't care if it looked like he got Rory to save his butt – he came out the victor. They were off to shop for an apartment to live in together and Jess had successfully avoided another fight.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The first three apartments they went to were shitholes. They were the farthest away from campus; they had just wanted to get them out of the way before heading on to what they really wanted to see. They had taken Rory's car and she was steering them to their fourth destination of the afternoon. They had talked about what happened in the conference room by the time they reached the first place. There really wasn't much to talk about.

Rory felt as if she was in high school again, two men fighting for her. One was obviously right for her, the other very very wrong. Although Jess had left, he came back for her. Now she was going to keep him. Things were never right with Logan; first the causal dating, casual sex. She wasn't meant to be a casual dater, she was definitely not meant for casual sex. She also knew she wasn't meant to be his girlfriend. The only good that came out of Logan was the Life and Death Brigade article, she even won an award for it.

The car was silent for most of the trip, Rory lost in thought. She assumed Jess was too, because he made no tries at conversation. This is the first apartment that they actually thought could work and she was excited. When they pulled up in front of the large, old building, she was in awe. It was historical, like something she had read about in a book. Rory turned to Jess and found him staring at the building the way she had. "Let's go in," she finally said.

Rory was grinning when she got out of the car. Jess reached for her hand and they walked together to the office. "We're here to look at a model apartment," Jess told the receptionist. He had taken the initiative in each apartment so far and she didn't mind. She didn't have experience apartment hunting like he did.

The receptionist told them to take a seat in the small waiting area directly across from her desk. Rory sat down, still holding Jess's hand, and looked up at the ceiling. There was an intricate design of moldings, she noticed, and they were up unnaturally high. She couldn't believe she missed it when they first entered.

"Hi, I'm Tony Barclat," the landlord said when he came out from his office. "Follow me." He lead them out of the small room and out into a nicely lit hallway. Rory loved the feel of the building. It was so unique, it was hard she hadn't noticed it before. Jess was the one who found the address, and she could kiss him for more reasons than just love. Tony interrupted her thoughts when he placed a key into one of the doors. He pushed the door open and motioned for them to go inside.

"Wow," Jess whispered as they walked through. Rory was stunned into silence. She didn't want to look at any of the other places on the list – this was her apartment. It had a medium sized kitchen, which wouldn't normally appeal to her but she was going to be living with Jess…and he could cook. The ceilings were lofted like the office and Tony mentioned they were like that on each floor, not just the ground level. The living room had large glass panes along with a glass door that lead out into a cement porch. The ground floor had a small garden, but the upper levels only had enough space for a chair or two. It was really all she needed. The place was perfect.

Rory looked at Jess for approval and litigation. Jess headed off with Tony and Rory continued looking through the apartment. It was small, only two rooms and a moderately sized bathroom. She loved the bear claw tub, the molding around the mirror. The whole apartment seemed very well taken care of. She left the rooms and found Tony and Jess talking in the kitchen. "Here's my number," Tony said and handed him a card. "Call me when you make your decision."

Jess nodded and placed the card in his pocket. He followed Tony out of the apartment and Rory joined him. "Thank you, I'll call." Jess said and they headed back out to the car. Rory's earlier smile faded, he hadn't taken the apartment.

"Why didn't we take it? It's perfect! You know it's perfect," she whined.

Jess held her hand, "We have to look at a few more places, just to be sure there isn't somewhere else that's more perfect."

Rory pouted, "Fine." She went to buckle her seatbelt but Jess didn't let go of her hand. "Come on, I need that." Her mood had plummeted; she didn't want to look at any other stupid apartments. She had a feeling about this one; it was the one for them.

"Ror," Jess whispered, causing her to look up into his eyes. "It's perfect." There was a hint of a smile on his lips, and he let go of her hand.

"I know,"

"I'll call him back after one more place, let's go,"

Rory started to smile, "One more, you promise?"

"I promise,"

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Awe, how freaking cute?**

**I spent 10 hours doing a study guide for one test today. So…yeah. I rewarded myself for writing this angsty/fluffy chapter. I just needed to bring in a tad bit o'drama. Logan's probably going to be gone for a long time. I am going to bring in some characters I haven't used yet, just letting you know!**

**Reviews are always welcome. Reviews make me happy. Thank you.**


	23. Congratulations

**AN**: I've skipped some time, so please make a note of it.

**Disclaimer**: Amy owns it, not I...please don't sue!

XXXXXXXXXX

**Three weeks later**

When Jess opened the diner on a cold Monday morning, he realized it had been almost a month exactly since they had signed the lease for their perfect apartment. He hadn't left Stars Hollow, but Rory came down every weekend to be with him…and Lorelai. When Rory told Lorelai the news, she was ecstatic and insisted they go shopping. He let the girls be girls, knowing that they'd get everything they would need.

Jess opened the front door to Luke's after flipping the closed sign over and popped his head out to check the mail. There was a large white envelope waiting for him and he almost collapse out of happiness. He grabbed the envelope along with the rest of the mail and rushed inside. "Pick up, pick up," he said to the phone as it rang.

"Oh. My. God. Die," Rory's voice carried to him, obviously upset that the sun was barely over the horizon.

"I got in," Jess said, excited. "I got in!"

"What?" She said, startled.

Jess practically danced around the diner, causing the phone cord to catch on multiple items, knocking them over. "I got the big envelope. I remember when you were waiting for the big envelope and I thought it was bunch of crap but I got it!" He barely breathed as he talked to her, it was like he had been holding his breath until he got the letter.

Rory squealed with delight, "Well open it!"

Jess's fingers tore at the seal, too excited to go about it rationally. "Jess Mariano, we are proud to accept you in to Yale as a new student to the School of English!"

"You made it!" she laughed.

Jess leaned up against the doorframe to the kitchen and finally breathed. "I was worried… I mean, I let the cat out of the bag to a whole town before I knew. I even got an apartment!"

"_We_ got an apartment," she corrected, "And you'd live there even if you didn't make it in."

"You know I would," Jess sighed. "I don't have to worry about that now." There was a long silence, Jess focusing on the letter in his shaking hand. "You should go back to sleep."

"Jess? What day is it?"

He looked down at the mail scattered on the counter, finding the most recent postmark. "November 20th, why?"

"It's thanksgiving this weekend," Rory said, returning to a groggy state. "We'll celebrate then."

"Go to sleep Ror," he told her, "We'll celebrate whenever you make it down here. I love you."

"I love you too," she said and hung up.

Jess sighed and put the phone back on the hook.. He looked around and noticed the donut container had been knocked over as well as some salt and pepper shakers on the counter. Too much excitement, he realized. After he cleaned up the mess, Jess gathered up the rest of the mail and put it under the counter. He started up the coffee maker and waited.

When the first customers entered, he pushed his excitement down and treated them as usual. He didn't need to spread the news anymore. Rory knew and that's all that mattered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rory woke up with a smile on her face, remembering the early morning phone call with Jess. He was so happy and she was happy for him. She couldn't wait until two days later, when she'd be back in Stars Hollow for Thanksgiving. Rory realized they didn't even have any Thanksgiving Day plans, they hadn't thought that far into the future. She was sure Sookie and Luke were having separated dinners…two they can handle. Rory remembered the one year that they went to seven dinners. That was one crazy day. It would be her first thanksgiving with Jess by her side and she was excited.

After going to her morning classes, Rory settled into her couch with a textbook and her cell phone. After dialing Lorelai's number, she just waited.

"Sweetie," Lorelai answered.

"Mom!" Rory was excited to hear her voice. "I had an evil, evil man call me around six this morning."

"Should I go kick his but?" Lorelai said defensively, while laughing. "Why so early?"

Rory giggled, "I've got good news!"

"You just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance?"

"I knew you were going to say that," Rory sighed. "I do have good news though."

"Well don't keep Mommy waiting,"

"Jess got into Yale," Rory said as a wide smile spread across her face. "He is officially in Yale now."

"It wasn't official before?" Lorelai asked. Rory could hear the concern in her voice.

"I know we were taking a lot of risks, but we figured everything would work out in the end, and it did!"

"It's not the end, you know…"

"Come on Mom, it was supposed to be good news,"

Lorelai sighed, "It is, I'm happy for you. Let's just leave it at that for now, okay?"

"Okay," Rory agreed. "I was thinking about Thanksgiving…"

"Sookie's then Luke's or Luke's then Sookie's?" Lorelai said, reading her mind. "I vote Sookie's then Luke's. Then we don't have to worry about rushing it with Luke."

"Dirty,"

Lorelai laughed. "I know, I know. What do you think?"

"It's a plan. I'll see you Wednesday night, okay?"

"Kay honey," Lorelai said and hung up.

Rory placed the phone on her lap in case she got any calls and opened up the Econ textbook she had with her.

_Stupid boring subjects,_ she thought, reluctantly reading the assigned chapter for the week. The numbers and words on the pages meant nothing to her; all she could think of was the future, not the past.

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Rory spent as much time in the YDN office as she could before she left on Wednesday night. She ran into Logan once, literally, and completely ignored him when he tried to speak to her. After that his desk was always empty – she knew she was the only reason he had ever come to the office.

After she handed in the final copy of her article, Rory rushed back to her dorm to pack for the weekend. Instead of putting the clothes in her backpack, she shoved them in her laundry bag. Rory left her textbooks on her desk and put her iMac and makeup in the messenger bag.

Looking into her room from the doorframe, Rory made sure she didn't leave anything necessary behind. She checked her pockets and felt her phone and wallet; she was ready to leave. "Have a good Thanksgiving," she called out to Paris before heading out the door.

"Wait, when will you be back?" Paris asked from the couch.

"Late Sunday night…why?"

"Doyle's coming over tomorrow with dinner and he's probably going to stay, I just wanted to let you know in advance,"

"Well Paris," Rory said cautiously, "Why are you being so nice?"

Paris stood there, hands on her hips defensively. "I'm always…Ah, I'm not that good of a liar. I'm asking Doyle if he wants to live with me, so you'll either come back to me wallowing or worn out from all the sex."

"That's the blunt Paris we know and love," Rory said and opened the door. "I'll see you Sunday!" She took her bag of clothes and hurriedly walked to her car. She plugged in her iPod and headed on the road to Stars Hollow.

Rory liked to use the time on the road to think. She smiled uncontrollably whenever she thought of Jess and their apartment. It seemed too good to be true. Rory had thought of Jess a couple of times while he was gone, but she tried not to focus on it. It was hard to believe he came back to her; it was weird that she half expected it. When he came back two years ago and asked her to run away with him… She knew she should have. Now she was getting a second chance, a third chance actually.

Rory promised herself she wouldn't screw it up this time.

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**Well you guys didn't much like 22, did you? I don't know how you'll like this, so yeah.**

**Please review, I need to know what you think.**


	24. A Lot of Thought

**AN**: Bah.

**Disclaimer**: I love ASP. Rowr!

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Jess had closed down the diner early on Wednesday night; not many people were coming in because it seemed as if they were saving up their appetites for the big day. Rory called on her way down, he could tell she was excited to be with him again.

He left the diner's door unlocked and headed upstairs to clean up before Rory showed up. He had just gotten done making the bed when he heard her footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Honey, I'm home," Rory called out upon opening the door. Jess walked over to her and gave her a bear hug, causing her to giggle. "Well hello!"

"I missed you," he whispered in her ear.

Rory pulled away, surprised but happy. "Why so charming?"

Jess faked a pout, "Can't I be emotional sometimes?"

Rory walked to the table and sat down, "I've only been gone three days."

"But they were important three days," he said, joining her at the table. "Do you want something to eat?"

"I'm starved!"

"Al's? I closed the kitchen already," Jess picked up the phone, but Rory took it away from him.

"I'll get it,"

Jess smiled and leaned back in his chair. "You've got it." He relaxed and watched her order. He couldn't wait until he was up in New Haven with her and didn't have to be away for a week at a time. It was getting progressively harder and harder.

Rory hung up the phone and placed it on the table, "They'll be here soon. How do you want to celebrate your acceptance?" she asked excitedly. "We could get cake or junkfood and just veg out… or we could go somewhere? Although everywhere's probably closed…"

"Rory," he said, interrupting her rant. "Let's celebrate tomorrow. Al's and a movie tonight and then we've got the big dinner with Luke and Lorelai tomorrow. I think we should all celebrate together."

She nodded, "Have you told them yet?"

Jess smiled, "I think the word might have gotten out. Plus, they knew I was going anyways, when it wasn't _official_."

"I understand," Rory said. "Let's go wait for Al downstairs, so we don't miss it."

"You should be saving yourself for tomorrow, but okay,"

Rory scoffed, "Saving myself? Ha! Mom and I are champion eaters, we'll be even better than you tomorrow."

"Well I don't plan on eating myself into a stupor, so you automatically win that one!" He laughed as they headed downstairs. "You just better be able to come home on your own free will."

Rory grinned back at him, "Now _that_, I can't promise."

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Rory woke up, once again in Jess's arms. She had to go in between sleeping alone and sleeping with Jess and she by far liked sleeping with Jess better. He always kept his arm either around her or holding her somehow. It was like he subconsciously didn't want to give her a chance to get away. _Not like I'd want to_!

When she would wake up in his arms on the weekends, there would always be a smile on her face. When she was alone during ht week, she woke up feeling as if she was missing something. Rory curled up as close as she could to Jess and waited until he woke up. She knew he had to be at the diner relatively early to start making Thanksgiving dinner with Luke. Jess stayed asleep for quite a while, so Rory decided to give him another little wake up call…not as surprising as the first time though.

The kiss turned out to be well appreciative, especially when it was accompanied by Jess's hands on her body. _I'll never get enough of this_, Rory thought. _I missed out on it when we were younger and I fully plan on making up for that_. Rory deepened the kiss with a still sleepy Jess, exploring his mouth with her tongue. That, they had done when they were young…and it only got better with time.

"Good morning," Jess said after he finally broke the kiss. "I love waking up to you."

"I was just thinking the same thing,"

"Well were you also thinking, 'Oh crap, it's nine already'?"

"No…" Rory's voice was sad, she knew what that thought meant. "Why don't you stay with me for a while and then go down? Or do you think you're needed right away?"

A small frown appeared on Jess's face. "I should probably just head down there. We don't want Luke coming up here and finding us like this, do we?"

Rory didn't even need to think about it. "Okay, I guess it'll work. I'll just head over to Mom's to get ready to go to Sookie's."

"You're crazy," he said and kissed her softly on the lips. "Crazy."

"I know," Rory said, smiling. "It's part of why you love me."

Jess stood up, shaking his head. "Crazy."

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"Did I raise you to be a morning person?" Lorelai asked Rory when she bounded into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. "No, I don't think I did." She was grumpy; Luke woke her up when he left to go to the diner and she had just gotten into a good sleep rhythm when Rory showed up.

"I got kicked out," Rory explained. "Our men are _cooking_, and since I obviously can't help on that part – which you raised me to do – I decided to see my dear mother! Is this the thanks I get for being so thoughtful?"

Lorelai grumbled and sat up in her bed. "Still…It's early."

"Not really," Rory corrected her. "It's almost ten. We have to be at Sookie's by noon. You take an hour minimum to get ready…"

Lorelai smirked, "Why do you always have to be right?"

"Because I'm your loyal protégé. I am you,"

"You're so smart, complimenting Mommy in the morning," Lorelai got up and groaned. "I'm still not a morning person."

Rory sat back on the bed and yay/nay'd her wardrobe choices. This is why it took her an hour to get ready – she went through almost every article of clothing. They finally decided on a flirty dress and a cardigan since they wouldn't be coming home before going to Luke's. Rory got up off the bed and picked up a few pieces of discarded clothing to wear and went down to her room.

Lorelai felt stuck in her head while getting ready for the day. First, _bah, mornings._ Second, the topic of Rory. Rory's seemingly overwhelming joy despite the early hour. A couple of months ago, Rory had been the one to complain about her own early rising. _Boy how the tables have turned._ Third, the state of men in both her and her daughter's life. Rory was just so happy about Jess, and Lorelai admitted to herself that she was happy the little hoodlum came back. She loved the change in her daughter and thought it was nothing but good. But then Lorelai thought about Luke. She studied the ring on her finger; the one that symbolizes their love and need for each other. The one that means they'd eventually be getting married. _But when is 'eventually'? it's been months and Luke hasn't mentioned setting a date._ She knew she should take the initiative in the situation, being the woman…but it was hard. She didn't want to push a date on him when she wasn't sure he was ready – hell, she was the one that proposed.

"You ready?" Rory asked, popping her perfect head around the corner and peeping into the bathroom.

"Just a minute," Lorelai said out loud when all she could think was, _I'm not sure…_

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**No Thanksgiving yet, sorry. This chapter kinda just wrote itself. I didn't mess with it at all, so if you don't like it or it doesn't make sense – just tell me. I really don't mind. I kinda have this feeling that it isn't all that great (it's short as crap too, sorry), but I'm also tired and nervous about a speech I have to give tomorry. My speechin' skills aren't all that great. Stupid core classes. **

**Please review. I got a surge of reviews when I complained of the lack of them on 22…but now I have nothing to complain about. Thank you all for reading, I hope I make your day better.**

**PS. I hope to post again Tomorrow (later today?...Wednesday). I don't know yet. I have a million school related things to do, so if I don't get to it, I'm really sorry. I feel like I'm letting all of you down. Goodnight.**


	25. Dinner One and Intermission

**AN**: Wow, you guys really didn't like 24. I'm trying to make it up for you…

**Disclaimer:** I DON'T OWN GG.

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"Sookie, this is delicious!" Rory exclaimed when she took a bite of the roasted turkey she had put on her plate. "Really, it's great!"

Sookie grinned, proud of her work, as usual. "I'm making up for the deep fried fiasco of 2003." She shook her head, remembering bits and pieces of the incident.

"I remember that year," Lorelai said, laughing. "You got so wasted…"

A groan escaped Sookie's mouth, so that was why she could only remember parts of the night. "Wait, wasn't the year of the seven thanksgivings?"

Both Rory and Lorelai nodded, feeling full just thinking about it. "But it was technically only five… The shanghai at the Gilmore residence didn't count – and we avoided the deep fried bird." Lorelai recounted.

"We skipped the rolls," Rory remembered, saddened.

Sookie laughed, "You guys are nuts!" She handed the rolls over to Rory, causing her to smile.

"That seems to be the consensus," Lorelai and Rory said in unison.

"You're the same person," Sookie said with a giggle.

Lorelai touched her fingers together and laughed evilly, "My plan succeeded!"

The friendly banter continued through the dinner, Jackson even chiming in when the time was appropriate. Lorelai was glad she had Sookie as her best friend and Rory as her daughter. Rory thought about Sookie as another mother, just one that could cook. Lorelai was her best friend; Rory couldn't wait until she and Jess moved into the apartment and had an extra bedroom for her to stay in. Sookie was excited to have Lorelai and Rory over for Thanksgiving – she saw them as family even though she didn't get to see Rory that often.

Near the end of her dinner, Sookie presented a detailed cake in the shape of a turkey. Lorelai laughed out loud, "Another shape cake?" she asked, referring to the graduation cap cake Sookie made for her graduation from business school. "I must not be working you hard enough at the Dragonfly if you have enough time to make these."

"She doesn't sleep," Jackson interjected. "Davey and Martha sleep more than she does."

"That isn't true," Sookie complained. "They never sleep either!"

They all laughed heartily and dug into the cake. "It feels _wrong_ to eat something that you spent so much time on," Rory muttered, her fork on its way to her mouth.

"But it's cake," Lorelai said with her mouth full of said turkey-shaped-cake. "It doesn't matter what shape it is when it goes in, it all comes out the same."

"Ew, Mom," Rory said, pushing the fork away. "Nice way to ruin my appetite."

Lorelai just smiled, "You better be hungry; we have to go to Luke's soon."

"So this is just your appetizer?" Sookie asked. "I don't even get to be a main course?"

"You know we love you Sooks. You're the main course and Luke's the dessert."

"Ew, Mom!" Rory repeated. "You mean Luke's meal is the dessert."

"Sure sweetie. Just like Jess is your dessert."

"You guys… I'm keeping you from your men," Sookie said between bites.

Rory shook her head, "No, you're not. We've got all night to be with them."

"But you want to be there now,"

"Well…"

"You can go, I'm gonna clean up here,"

"We're going to spend the rest of the night here," Jackson chimed in.

"You sure?" Lorelai asked.

"Go on," Sookie insisted. "Thanks for coming."

"Wouldn't miss it," Rory said as they stood to leave. "Thank you for the wonderful meal." Lorelai agreed and they headed out the door to walk through town to Luke's. They were silent for a bit, trying to let their bodies digest before eating another meal.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" Lorelai asked, sweeping her hand in front of her. "The town, just all covered in fallen leaves. It's beautiful."

Rory nodded, taking in her surroundings. They've seen the town like this a million times before but it was always breathtaking. It was the quiet combination of nature and the town's manmade structures. They were just passing by the gazebo when Rory heard a loud rumbling coming closer.

Both Lorelai and Rory searched for the noise that was interrupting their moment with nature; both stopping in their tracks when they saw the small van enter the town square. "Lane!" Rory yelled, even though she knew her friend couldn't hear her. "I didn't know she was getting back today, did you?" She asked Lorelai.

"I had no clue," Lorelai said honestly.

The van parked on the street across from Luke's and Lane hopped out the side door. Rory started running to her and they met halfway between the gazebo and the van. "You're back!"

"We finished the tour," Lane said, excitedly. "Our last gig was yesterday in Newark, and we got here just in time for Thanksgiving!"

"Well where are you eating dinner? We just left Sookie's,"

"I need a shower before I even think about food," Lane joked. "I've been in that bus with three unwashed boys for I don't know how long. Eww."

"I have so much to tell you though!"

"Tell me when I'm clean?" Lane asked. "I take it you were on your way to Luke's?"

Rory nodded, "Yeah, dinner number two."

Lane smiled and turned to go back to the van. "I'll get my stuff in order and then I'll meet you at Luke's."

"Lane, wait," Rory yelled as Lane ran back to the van. "Wait!"

Lane couldn't hear her because Dave had started the van again. She just got happily in and directed them back to the house.

Leaning up against the gazebo, Lorelai had witnessed the interaction between the girls. "Problem?" she asked, smirking.

"I haven't talked to her in…a while," Rory admitted. "She's going home to shower and change and then she's 'meeting me at Luke's'."

"Problem being?" Lorelai tried to pull it out of her; she secretly loved getting Rory to admit when she was wrong because it happened so rarely (like herself).

Rory glared at her mom, "Jess. Jess is the problem! She didn't let me say anything!"

"I know honey, I just love that look," Lorelai grinned and took her daughter's hand. "It'll be okay. Lane probably won't hurt him, or you, that much."

"Thanks Mom," Rory said, dripping with sarcasm. "Thanks."

"No problem sweetie," she said and lead Rory to the diner. The closed sign was up but Luke and Jess were waiting inside. They were both slouched back in their chairs, aprons dirty and hair tousled. "Busy day?"

"Most of the people in this crazy town are too far gone to make their own damn dinner," Jess said, irritated from working nonstop all day.

Rory went over to comfort him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. She could feel him relax and she took the seat next to him. Lorelai sat next to Luke and kicked her under the table. "Hey, can we go upstairs for a bit?" Her voice was a bit tense, but she tried to hide it.

"Sure," Jess replied and slowly stood up. Rory went to his side and he leaned on her a bit – more to touch her than for actual support. They disappeared behind the curtain before he spoke again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing too bad actually…it's just that Lane came back," she said on their way up the stairs. She stopped at the top step and sat down. They just needed a bit of privacy even though she knew Lorelai was filling in Luke downstairs. "I haven't gotten to talk to her in a while."

"Lost touch?" he guessed.

"Not so much actually. We've been friends forever and that hasn't changed. She just left with Dave and the rest of Hep Alien on a tour a few weeks before you came back into my life."

"Oh," Jess was fairly stoic, not sure what to make of what she was saying or why they came upstairs to talk about it.

"She doesn't know about you, the apartment, you and the apartment, you and Yale… Basically she doesn't know anything that's happened since you came back."

"So I have another person to prove myself to,"

Rory curled up against him, "I'm sorry. The other thing…"

"Yeah?"

"She's coming over for dinner," Rory said, looking away from him. "I tried to tell her but she just left to get ready."

Jess thought about it for a while. "It'll be okay," he said, having come up with a plan. "Don't worry."

"That's what Mom said, but she was just kidding,"

"One person will not be able to keep me away from you," he lamented. "And she'll want you to be happy."

"That's true," Rory said, a small smile forming on her face. "She _hated_ Logan. So she'll at least be happy he's out of the picture."

"Ah, now we all have something to be thankful for. Come on, you go back to the diner and talk with Luke and Lorelai, I'll get changed and be down soon."

"Don't take too long, you better be down there when she shows up,"

Jess kissed her on the lips, something he had been waiting to do since her tease when she entered. "I will."

Rory's smile widened and she kissed him again quickly before racing down the stairs. Her mood was much lighter than when they entered the diner a mere five minutes before. "Apparently he's got it figured out."

"And I'm going to get dinner figured out," Luke said, standing and going to the kitchen.

"Why is Luke so nervous about this?" Rory asked her mom, figuring that was the reason for him running off. "He shouldn't really care all that much."

Lorelai smiled and sighed, "He just doesn't want anything to happen between you and Jess. I think he's gotten used to the idea of you two being together. He said it reminds him of us."

"Three years is nothing compared to you two,"

"I know hon, but that's what he doesn't want. He doesn't want you to have to wait as long as we did."

"That's so sweet," Rory said, her eyes starting to well up. Luke was such a big softy sometimes. Rory stood up and went over to the kitchen, finding Luke cutting the remains of a turkey on the oven. She came up behind him and gave him a quick hug and said, "Thanks." She let go of him, turned on her heels and returned to her seat to find Jess coming downstairs.

"We should push another table up, is Lane bringing anyone?"

"I didn't get the chance to ask…but I bet Dave is coming," Rory replied and stood up, helping him get another table. "So are you going to let me in on your plan?"

Jess shook his head, "You'll find out eventually."

"Secrets are no fun!" Lorelai said, "You know they're very hard to keep too…so you might as well just tell us."

"No, you'll both find out soon enough!" Jess said sternly, but laughed afterwards. "I'm going to go help Luke," he said and disappeared to the kitchen.

"Boys," Rory said, lounging in a chair again. "Maybe we should do something to help?"

"What, and ruin tradition? No way," Lorelai laughed and kicked up her heels. She leaned back in the chair. "I'm just waiting for the show to start."

"Awe Mom, it's not going to be a show. I hope to catch her before she comes in,"

"That's not going to work and you know it," she said, her tone letting Rory know she really was right. "Besides, we need a little action around here. Miss Patty and Babette have been dying of boredom. Maybe you can knock out a window or something, that'd get them going!"

"Mom!"

"Hey, I heard that," Luke said, emerging from the kitchen. "You're paying for it."

"It hasn't even-"

"If it does."

Lorelai scrunched up her face and stuck her tongue out at Luke.

"You keep doing that; your face will stick that way,"

"Can you imagine," Lorelai said with a giggle, "Saying 'I do' to _this_," she did the face again.

Luke shook his head, "I'm marrying a five year old."

"Oh honey, I'm at least six,"

"As much as I love the amusement, I think they're going to be here soon…" Rory reminded everyone. "Do we get plates? Forks? Knives?"

Jess came out of the kitchen with all the utensils in hand. "Got it."

"My little homemaker!" Rory exclaimed and helped him with the pile of dishes. "What would I do without you?"

"Let's try not to think about it," he said, putting everything down on the tables and giving her a kiss. "Been there, done that, don't want to do it again."

Rory kissed him back, "That's for sure." She turned to the table to set the place settings and saw Luke and Lorelai sitting in a daze. "What's wrong?"

Lorelai tipped her head back ever so slightly and Rory felt lightheaded. "Hi Lane," she said, turning around to see her best friend along with her boyfriend. "Hi Dave."

"You, and…him…and…" Lane was tongue-tied.

"Full sentences, you can do it," Dave whispered, trying to lighten the situation.

Lane's mouth gaped open for a while, staring at the scene in front of her. "You didn't call."

"You didn't have a phone,"

"That's no excuse!"

"Lane, you know I wanted to, and I would if I could-"

"There really was no way to contact you," Lorelai chimed in. "You didn't leave any numbers."

Jess was silent and Rory waved her hand at her mom. She needed to handle this on her own right now. "Come with me," Rory said and reached for Lane's hand. She flinched, but didn't completely back away – that was a good sign. "We'll be right back," Rory left with Lane like she did with Jess, going up the stairwell. She knew full well that everyone back in the diner was listening to her but it didn't matter. "Just let me talk?"

Lane nodded, "Okay," she said timidly, still in a state of shock.

"Two weeks after you left…"

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**Well everyone! Wasn't that good? Just to clear something up (I couldn't say it in the beginning AN cos that would've given stuff away), Dave didn't leave and Gil never came into the picture. Obviously Dave and Lane are together – the way it was meant to be despite the recent activity in the show (no spoilers!). I'm kinda proud of this chapter, it's my longest one to date! **

**Okay Peoples, please review. And I really mean that, you guys barely reviewed on chapter 24 (I'm not just saying that to get sympathy either)… It made me sad and I started to really doubt my story. **

**On another note, I have two huge tests Friday. I go on spring break starting Saturday. I'll be gone for a week. While I hope to get a stockpile of chapters written while I am away at my grandparents, I have no guarantees on when I will be able to post. I will TRY to post tomorrow (Thursday) and maybe Friday…if I can. I just seriously don't know yet. This means that the every day posting won't officially resume until the 13th of March, sorry everyone! You won't have to go for a week though, I do promise to post sometime during my break.**

**Thank you all for reading, I write this not only for my pleasure, but for yours. Tell me if you want to see anything, I'll do my best (and it will give me ideas!). **

**Also, thank you katesque for giving me my inspiration for this chapter!**


	26. Giving Thanks

**Disclaimer:** I'm just trying to make people happy, not trying to make money (at least through this).

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Lane sat with her mouth open in shock throughout Rory's recap of the last month. She was jealous that she missed out on all the excitement but was also miffed that Rory didn't try to find her somehow to tell her the news. They were best friends, and she was sure Rory could've talked to her one way or another. "So basically I've missed out on…a lot. Jess came back, is going to Yale, and is going to live with you."

"That seems right. Doesn't seem like so much when you list it like that," Rory wanted to lighten the mood; she was still worried about her friend's reaction. "Should we head back down there? They're probably worried about us."

"Okay," Lane nodded slowly. "I just wish you had told me."

"I tried, before you got here,"

"I know, you said that already. I just don't like being out of the loop,"

Rory thought of an idea and smiled, "Well, we haven't gotten everything for the apartment yet. You can come with Mom and me, when we go shopping for more _household items._" Rory couldn't think of another word to describe the things they were planning to buy that weekend. "We've already got the furniture and bedding and stuff…"

"So we're on the hunt for another monkey lamp?" Lane smiled, somehow knowing they were out to get the finishing pieces.

Rory nodded, "We need things that makes it unique to us; like mom's house."

"Monkey lamp it is," Lane said and they both laughed, heading down the stairs and out from behind the curtain. Their laughter lightened the tone for the others in the room; it was as if they had been holding their breath the whole time.

They returned to the table and a smile spread across everybody's faces. "Where's the food?" Lane asked.

"Lukey, food time," Lorelai said in a sing-song voice. He muttered but gave her a kiss on the cheek before vanishing into the kitchen again. "He'll make such a good housewife," she said, laughing and loud enough for him to hear.

Rory raised her eyebrows, remembering the scene in the mall. "I'm sure he will too," she said as she nudged Jess. "But have you had any thoughts about setting the date?"

Lorelai shrugged and looked as if she was about to say something when Luke came up to the table behind Rory with a plate full of turkey. "A little help?" he asked Jess, who groaned and stood up to get the rest of the food.

"I'll help," Lane offered and joined Jess to carry the plates of food out. They put all of the dishes on the counter and moved away the stools so it was like a buffet. "This looks wonderful Luke."

"Thanks Lane, it's nice having you back," Luke said as stood off to the side, watching everyone pile up their plates before he did so himself. "Everybody enjoyed it earlier."

"Awe man, we're already eating leftovers?" Rory laughed. "Not cool."

Jess placed his hand over his heart and said, "I can attest that this is all new food – I had to make most of it."

"See, good housewife," Lorelai said and the table erupted with laughter.

Once everyone was sitting down at the table, Dave suggested they say grace and thanks. "I know most of us aren't very religious but it doesn't seem right to say thanks without saying grace…"

"As long as it's you saying it, we're okay," Rory comforted him. "We know it means something to you."

Dave smiled and started to speak, "Thank you Lord for this food you have given us, along with the good company. Amen." A round of 'Amens' chorused through the diner. "Should I start with my thanks?"

Everyone nodded and he reached for Lane's hand. "I'm thankful that our tour is over and we have reliable running water again. I'm thankful that we were even able to tour in the first place. I'm thankful that I was given the opportunity to experience it all with the love of my life, Lane."

A blush crept up Lane's cheeks and there was a short pause before she started her thanks. "I'm also thankful for those, especially for the running water. I'm thankful that I have been able to spend so much time with Dave and that he has managed to get on Mrs. Kim's good side. I'm thankful I have Rory, Lorelai, Luke," she paused. "And Jess, here with me today. I'm thankful that we are all happy at the same time, that hasn't ever really happened before."

Rory winked at Lane, her turn at saying thanks. "I'm thankful I have everybody in this room to call my friend. I'm thankful that Jess is back and I'm thankful we made it to where we are today. I'm thankful I have my mom to be my pillar and that I have Luke to keep her relatively sane. I'm thankful that I have Lane, even though I have neglected her recently. I'm thankful that I'm happy, as well as everyone else here. I'm thankful that I'm in love."

Jess blushed quite like Lane did, "I'm also very thankful that I'm in love: that I have Rory and that I was able to get here in the first place. I'm thankful I got into Yale and that we'll be living together soon. I am thankful for you, Luke; for being the closest thing to a father in my life, for brining me to this crazy town and introducing me to this wonderful woman. I am thankful for the company of friends, old and new. I'm thankful that I was able to make it back here, no matter how crazy it is. And one more, that I think Lane forgot and Lorelai may still mention – I'm thankful there is no longer Logan in Rory's life. From what I've heard, he wasn't good for her and I'm thankful that I was able to take his place."

Lorelai nodded, as well as Lane. "We would've gotten it eventually," she said. "Luke?" They were going clockwise around the table but when it came to Luke, he was silent. "It's your turn."

"I know," he said and paused. "I have too much to be thankful for, but I'll try anyways. I'm thankful for every person here. I am thankful that I have Lorelai…finally. I am very thankful that the people in my life are just as cheerful as I am, it's about damn time. I'm thankful that I am going to get the opportunity to spend every waking day with Lorelai. I love you."

Tears were in her eyes, she was the last one up. "I am thankful for my daughter and her love, her best friend and her love, and for my love. I'm thankful that everything has turned out happy in the end, even though this isn't really the end of anything. I guess I'm thankful for almost everything everybody else is, which isn't a great way to end it but it's true…except for the running water thing," she grinned at Lane and Dave. "This woman doesn't go anywhere without running water."

They all laughed, knowing the honesty in the joke. "So, that was sufficiently mushy," Jess commented when they were all finished. "Time to eat?"

"Definitely," Rory answered.

XXXXXXXXXX

The food was long gone before the conversation stopped and Dave and Lane left to go back to their house. Rory and Lorelai helped Luke and Jess with the cleaning up, something that was very unexpected to the guys. When everything was put away, they sat down with cups of coffee and continued the conversation a bit longer until Lorelai announced that she was getting a bit tired.

"I think we should be heading home," she said with an elaborate yawn. "Come on Luke, you ready?"

Luke glanced around the diner and made sure everything would be okay for opening the next day, "Yeah, let's go. Lock the door before you head up," he said to Jess and Rory before leaving.

"That turned out okay," Jess said, getting them more coffee. "What happened with Lane?"

Rory smiled and accepted the full mug, "Monkey lamps," she said amused.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't question it, "You ready to go upstairs?"

"Sure," she said and nodded. "Now that things are going to be okay with Lane, will you tell me what your secret plan was?"

Jess shook his head and put his hand on her back. "Nope," he said nonchalantly while leading her up the stairs.

"You're seriously never going to tell me?"

"Only after it works,"

"But you won't have to do it now,"

Jess scoffed at her naivety, "Didn't you hear her pause while she gave thanks? She hasn't accepted me yet."

Rory tried to remember but she hadn't been paying that close attention to details, "I'm sure you'll be fine!"

"It will be once my master evil genius plan works!" he smirked and laughed heartily. "It'll be okay in the end."

XXXXXXXXXX

Luke crawled into bed with Lorelai, exhausted from the busy day at the diner. Jess was right – people in this town really were lazy. "So this was a relatively drama-free Thanksgiving."

Lorelai sighed and curled up to Luke, "Relatively… There was tension, but not nearly as bad as it could've been."

"What makes you think there was going to be a big to-do with Rory and Lane? They've been best friends forever, they'll get through anything."

"That's the thing – they've been best friends _forever_. They have _always_ told each other _everything_. Now that they're getting older, it's been harder. If I had friends when I was Rory's age, I'm sure it would be the same."

"Well Lane didn't even mention it after Rory talked to her, so they'll be fine,"

"Awe, Luke," Lorelai said, jokingly. "You just don't understand girls… There's gotta be something going on there. I've watched enough TV and movies to know that Lane accepted it a little too quickly."

Luke patted her hair, knowing Lorelai was going to focus on it for a while if he kept the topic going. "It's the spirit of the holiday,"

"Yeah, maybe," Lorelai said and a comfortable silence fell over the two of them. Luke was playing with her hair and she started to relax more.

"So about the wedding date," Luke said after a while. "You were going to answer when I came in."

Lorelai thought he hadn't heard Rory ask, but she knew he did. "I was just going to say we haven't really talked about it."

"Don't you think we should?"

Lorelai bit her lip, "Yeah…"

"Not now though, it's been a long day," Luke said, sensing her hesitancy. "Just…soon."

"Soon," she repeated, voice heavy with worry and sleepiness.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Shorter than the last few, but longer than a lot of them. I think that there's a lot of hidden(ish) elements in this chapter, I hope everyone catches them! If not, oh well – it's only a story!**

**If there isn't an update tomorrow…don't expect one for a while. I've been warning you since I think chapter 23, so you guys should fully know that I am going on vacation and don't know how the posting schedule will be. I know you love the every day updates, which I hope to return to on my return. Everyone have a good week (a good spring break if you're as fortunate as me), I'll post sometime soon, no promises though!**

**Please review, the more reviews I get, the longer and better the chapters are. Plus, they make me happy.**


	27. Quest for a Monkey Lamp

**Disclaimer**: Oogity Boogity, I love GG and I wish I owned them! Yay!

XXXXXXXXX

Lorelai stopped over at the diner the next morning to gather up Rory and Lane for their day-after-Thanksgiving shopping spree. The sales were humongous and the crowd would be horrendous – it was going to be so much fun. Inside the diner, Lane and Jess were behind the counter casually chatting, both wearing their aprons. "So I see you got rehired," she said to Lane.

"Yup, since he's leaving," Lane pointed to Jess, "Luke needs the help even more."

"Maybe I'll see more of him then," Lorelai said and smirked. "Are you ready to go?"

"What about Rory?" Lane asked.

Jess shrugged, "She's still upstairs. I think it has something to do with the fact that the sun is barely rising. Want me to go get her?"

Lorelai shook her head and said, "I'll do it myself," walked over to the curtain covering the stairs and went to gather her daughter. "Wakey wakey, rise and shine!"

"I've been up for…god," Rory said, looking at her watch. "Five minutes. What are we doing going shopping at seven in the morning?"

A grin spread across Lorelai's face, "All the best sales stop at 10. Get up, let's go." She grabbed an arm and pulled Rory out of the bed. Giving her a little shove towards the bathroom, she yelled, "Hurry your cute little butt up, I know it doesn't take you more than five minutes to get ready."

Rory groaned and grabbed a change of clothes before going into the bathroom and quickly washing her face. She emerged looking tired and in desperate need of coffee.

"Looks like time has caught up with you," Lorelai said, referring to the time when it was common for her to just wake up and leave without having to do anything. "You get one cup of coffee here, you get a quick kiss with Jess, me with Luke, we grab coffee to go, and then we're out of here."

"Double coffee," Rory mused. "Not enough. It's too early."

Lorelai took her hand and led her down the stairs, "She's grumpy," she announced to the occupants of the diner. "Coffee," Lorelai told Jess sternly.

"The love of my life giving me the elixir of life, how sweet," Rory kissed Jess on the cheek while he handed her a mug of coffee. Lorelai had disappeared into the kitchen by the time she thought of a witty comeback, "Now if it was only three or four hours later, I'd be able to enjoy it."

"How can you deal with this grumpiness?" Lane asked, still nursing her own mug. "She must be a pain to be around."

Rory elbowed her in the side and laughed, "Hey!"

Jess chuckled and answered Lane's obviously joking question, "As long as I provide coffee, I'm going to get a few hours of alone time each morning. Seems like a good deal to me; besides, why would I want to wake up to this bad mood?"

"Mom?" Rory called out and scowled. Lorelai poked her head around the corner before she continued, "Is it time to go? The Rory bashing is turned up this morning."

Lorelai looked between Lane, Rory and Jess and laughed. "Just a minute."

Rory turned to Jess, "Three coffees to go, you can continue your Rory attack later… After I've spent enough money to last us a month," Rory saw his face turn grim and smirked, "I'm so glad you have a good job."

On that note, the three women accepted their to-go cups and headed out the door. "You knew I was joking, right?" Lane asked Rory once they were outside. "I mean, I know it's early…"

"I'm not a total moron in the morning; I just prefer not to be awake and moving,"

"Well good,"

Lorelai had walked in silence while the girls chatted, subconsciously directing them to her Jeep. "Crazy day-after-Thanksgiving sales, here we come," she announced when they had gotten into the car and drove off to Hartford.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Luke and Jess tended to the diner through the morning rush, which was larger than usual because of the shopping circumstances. The flow of people slowed to a trickle around ten thirty, giving them both time to sit down and take a small break. "You know they're out there, spending all of our money," Jess said as a matter of fact.

Nodding, Luke replied, "At least I'm engaged. Rory's spending your money and you two aren't even living together yet."

"Doesn't matter," Jess said and stood to clean off more tables. Luke stared at his nephew, thinking about how alike they were. He would've done anything for Lorelai even before they started going out. Jess didn't have to be engaged; he felt the same way about Rory. Luke wondered what Jess, wondering what he was thinking. Did he realize how similar they were?

"We're lucky," Luke muttered, sick of keeping all his thoughts to himself. "Really lucky."

Jess nodded, "I know."

XXXXXXXXX

Leaving Sears, loaded down by numerous shopping bags, the women went to the car to drop off their purchases. "Jess has some master plan to gain your friendship," Rory told Lane. "He won't tell me what it is and it's driving me nuts!"

"What makes you think I know? Lorelai, do you know?"

"I think we're all in the same boat sweetie,"

Rory scoffed, "Fine…" They placed their bags in the back of Lorelai's Jeep. "Just think about it. If you see anything funny, let me know."

"You got it," they replied and turned to face the mall. "Ready for round two?" Lane asked. "Still no monkey lamp…"

Rory and Lorelai laughed before they headed back off into the mall. "I think the chances of getting another monkey lamp are very small," Lorelai said, almost saddened. "I think we might have a higher chance at a cow or other animal shaped lamp. Monkeys are so last season."

Everyone giggled as they reached the entrance and continued the shopping spree. Jess's plan was forgotten and none of them had a care in the world that wasn't shopping related.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Sorry for the small chapter, but I thought you guys deserved something. I'm having a blast on my vacation, even though I'm losing a ton of money at the casinos. I love Craps though, so much fun:D**

**I don't expect many reviews; the chapter wasn't all that great. Just some nice fluff, combined with a few hints of things to come. A few of you may know my plans for the next few chappies, but if not, just enjoy the ride. It'll get better once I get home.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	28. PreShake Shake Shake

**AN**: Skipped a little bit of time again, don't be confused.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own it but sure do wish I did.

XXXXXXXXXX

Finals week was approaching for Yale and Rory was in a whirlwind of late nights and studying. She hadn't gone to Stars Hollow the weekend before finals, but Jess came up to visit for a day. Rory missed him badly but the good thing about finals week was that she wasn't given much time to think about him. Her brain was occupied by econ and British lit along with the other four journalism classes she was in. Being a junior at Yale wasn't harder than she thought it'd be, but it was very hard.

Time was passing very slowly and Rory just wanted the week to be over. The newspaper needed a stockpile of articles so that she wouldn't have to worry about writing when Jess and she moved into their apartment. Rory had four exams and two projects due by the Friday before winter break.

The phone rang on Rory's nightstand while she was sitting at her desk working on one of the projects. She gladly took the break and ran over to the phone, hoping it was Jess. The caller ID came up, 'Mom,' and although it wasn't Jess, she was still very happy. Rory hadn't talked to Lorelai much since Thanksgiving break, only a few times on the phone. The holidays were causing a rush at the Dragonfly so the communication between mother and daughter was disintegrating. "Hi Mom!" she said when she opened her cell.

"Hi sweetie," Lorelai said on the other end. "It's been too long. This is your hell week, right?"

Rory nodded and laughed because her mom obviously couldn't see her. "Yeah Mom…It's almost over though."

"Well that's good!" Lorelai sounded excited. "I've got good news!"

"Okay, we can't do that joke anymore…it's getting old,"

Lorelai giggled, "I do have good news though. We have a town event coming up,"

"Oh? I haven't had the opportunity to think about the Hollow much,"

"That's what I thought," Lorelai said, amused. "I think you need to come back for this one. It's this Saturday."

Rory thought about it for a second, "You haven't even told me what it is! I was planning on coming home though. My last exam is Thursday."

"Yay, no Saturday finals!"

"Still haven't told me what it is, Mom,"

Lorelai hummed a tune and sang, "Shake, shake, shake…shake, shake, shake…shake your booty!"

"Really bad karaoke?" Rory guessed, laughing.

"No… More like an all-night, themed event…"

"Oh, Mom," Rory pleaded, "Not again."

Lorelai's excitement transferred over the phone, "I think I've gotten Luke to agree! You have your string tied so tightly around Jess that you could get him to agree in an instant."

Rory sat there, thinking, "I don't know," she paused. "My sleep schedule is already really messed up."

"And you're going to be here anyways,"

"You always rope me into these things," Rory mused. "But okay. How should I break it to Jess? Cos I'm not doing it without him."

"I convinced Luke sometime while we were under the covers," Lorelai said and giggled.

"Ew, Mom!"

"Well I have to go," Lorelai said, her voice still radiating excitement. "I gave you an idea, run with it."

Rory hung up the phone and lied down on the bed. "I can't believe I'm doing the dance marathon again. At least this time I've got a hope of winning," she said aloud.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Jess went to visit Rory, he barely got to spend any time with her. He drove around a bit, finding himself passing their soon-to-be apartment building many a time. Rory spent the entire Saturday studying for her final on the coming Monday so he had walked around the campus to familiarize himself with the buildings.

_After a walk around campus, Jess let himself back into Rory's dorm. Paris and Rory were living in a complete mess for finals week; for the most part, all of Rory's belongings were in boxes. They were haphazardly labeled, a habit she probably acquired from her mother. "Did you want me to start moving these things back to Stars Hollow?" he called out to her bedroom._

_Rory poked her head out of her room, still in her pajamas and hair unwashed. "No, I called Grandma last night and she's sending over movers to put everything into a truck."_

"_And where's the truck going to go? We can't move into the apartment until after Christmas,"_

"_I know, I told her that. She's going to have it parked until we can move in,"_

_Jess shrugged and then wondered aloud, "Why did Emily offer to do this?" He was always suspicious of the elder Gilmore woman; ever since the first dinner he had over there._

"_I told her we were moving,"_

"_We?" Jess interrupted. "You said 'we' were moving?"_

"_I don't remember," Rory said, worried. "I might have said 'we'… But don't worry about it, she's just helping me out by keeping all of my junk until we need it."_

"_She doesn't do anything just out of the goodness of her heart,"_

"_You're turning into my mother,"_

"_Not necessarily a bad thing… It's good to be cautious, especially of Emily."_

Jess sat in the diner, reflecting on the rest of the Saturday he spent at Yale. Luke's was close to empty. It was around three in the afternoon on a Wednesday; not their busiest time of the week. Lane was walking around, absentmindedly wiping down the tables and arranging the cutlery. Luke was in the kitchen, also cleaning. It was Caesar's day off and with Lane back, it left Jess with relatively nothing to do. The receipts were already counted and organized, tips from the morning and afternoon rushes already divided.

After staring off into space for a while, Jess focused on Lane. He wasn't sure what she thought about him still. She always seemed cautious around him and he was sick of it. He had to watch what he did and said; something he hadn't had to do since the first time he lived in Stars Hollow.

"Hey," he called out to Lane. She stopped wiping the table she was at and turned around. Her eyebrows were raised and she looked relatively surprised. "What are you and Dave doing tonight?"

Lane walked over to the bar and sat down across from Jess, looking very alert. "I don't know, we don't have any plans. Why?"

Jess shrugged and tried to come off as unruffled, "I've been thinking of doing something for Rory when she gets back. This week has been crazy with finals, the paper, and moving all of her stuff out. Maybe we could throw her a party or something?"

He studied Lane's face as it went through a rainbow of emotions. "I don't know, why don't you ask Lorelai?"

"I thought you could ask her if she has any plans for the weekend. Maybe we could even go somewhere?"

"I'll give her a call," she said and stood up from her stool, an odd look still on her face.

"Thanks, I'm going to go see Lorelai," Jess told Lane as he stood up straight and walked to the kitchen. "Hey Luke?"

Luke was crouched on the ground, his head shoved into the oven. "Yeah?"

"I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back for the dinner rush,"

"Kay," Luke replied, his head still in the oven.

Jess shook his head, the craziness had even gotten to his uncle. _Oh well,_ he thought, _it'll be me next._ At least he knew he couldn't avoid the inevitable.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lorelai had just gotten off the phone with Rory when Jess entered the Dragonfly. She was walking to the kitchen for a coffee refill but stopped when he looked around, confused. "Jess?" she asked, not quite sure why he was there. It was all very 'speak of the devil' for her comfort.

"Oh hey Lorelai," he said, shifting his body weight between his feet.

"Coffee?" she offered, continuing on her way to the kitchen. "What brings you over here?" she poured a cup and handed it to him as he nodded.

"I wanted to ask you something,"

Lorelai didn't sense any impending doom so she motioned for him to continue while she sipped a mug of Sookie's coffee. "I was wondering if you've talked to Rory recently? I've been leaving her alone except for one phone call every night."

Lorelai nodded, "I just got off the phone with her before you came in actually."

"Is she doing okay?"

"A little frazzled, but that's to be expected, right?"

"I guess so…My finals never really got to me,"

A small smile appeared on Lorelai's face, "I think that's because you're different people. That's a good thing." There was a short silence while Jess thought about what she said. He distorted his face a bit and bit his lower lip. "What's wrong?"

"Well I wanted to do something for Rory. I know that everything that's happening right now is all crazy and I wanted to treat her to something fun before Christmas,"

"Like what?" She didn't know exactly what he was getting to.

"A small trip or party… That's really my only ideas so far. I asked Lane to call her and ask what was going on this weekend,"

"Oh," Lorelai said solemnly. "You can tell Lane she doesn't have to call. Why don't you call her when you get back and ask her yourself?"

"You know something,"

"Maybe… Just go back and call her yourself," Lorelai stood up and busied herself with cleaning their mugs. "Trust me."

Jess shrugged again and said thanks before leaving the inn. Once he left the kitchen, Lorelai took her cell phone out of her pocket. "You can't ask him in bed," she said before Rory even had the chance to say hello. "He's going to be calling you in a few minutes."

"What?" Rory asked, confused.

"Jess! Jess is going to be calling as soon as he gets back to the inn, maybe earlier," she added, remembering that he had a cell phone. "He came over and asked me what was going on this weekend."

"Why didn't you just tell him?"

"He'll only agree if you ask! And you have to ask; with both of us participating, Kirk may finally lose!"

"It's been like eight years running," Rory reminded her. "You're still not giving up?"

Lorelai gasped, "You think that little of me? I'll never give up! Until I get that big honkin' trophy…" She smiled, excited for the weekend. "Just make him agree, I'll find us the clothes and everything."

"Well thanks for the warning," Rory said sarcastically. "Guess who's on the other line."

"Go, shoo!" Lorelai said quickly and closed her phone. This marathon was going to be better than the other one they both participated in. She had to admit it was funny to think of how Jess's and Luke's rolls had changed since the last time. It was going to be amazing to have both of them involved. She couldn't stop smiling.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You've got to be kidding," Jess practically yelled through the phone. Rory cringed and held her cell away from her ear while he ranted. She didn't catch everything, just words such as 'crazy', 'no way', and 'why'.

"Come on, it'll be fun! Remember how much fun you had at the last one?"

"You're nuts! I can't believe you thought I'd let you drag me into this,"

Rory frowned, saddened by his response. "I thought you'd like to do it with me. Luke is Lorelai's partner; you wouldn't be the only one from your blood line there. Liz and TJ may even go! It's a family affair!" She smiled at the thought of everyone participating. "Even Lane and Dave are going to be there. Everyone who's anyone in Stars Hollow is going to torture themselves for 24 hours straight for the sake of charity."

"You know that you are crazy, right? You and everyone else that's going to be there,"

"So that means you're crazy too, because you're going,"

"What makes you think I am?" he sounded skeptical, like he knew there was something going on. "You can't make me do what I don't want to."

"Jess," she said, voice dripping with sweetness. "I really want you to do this, for me. Please do it for me."

There was a groan and some inaudible muttering, "Fine. The sad thing is that I knew the longer I protested, the more you'd want me there. I'm only saying yes to prevent a fight in the future."

"And you're smart for that! Now I have to go and be smart," Rory said, ecstatic that he had given in so quickly. She was prepared for a long fight but was glad she didn't have to. "I love you," she said softly as a goodbye.

"I love you too, crazy lady," Jess said, laughing, and hung up.

Ever since Lorelai pushed the idea on her, Rory had been growing on the thought of everyone participating in the dance marathon. She hadn't had the opportunity to do it since the fateful year with her mother…she hoped that this year went better, she bet it did. All of her friends and family would be there, and she'd already be dancing with the man of her dreams. A smile spread across Rory's face, unknowingly just like her mother.

XXXXXXXXXX

The phone in the diner had been ringing for almost five minutes straight, but nobody had been able to answer it because it was so busy. Every table was occupied, and Lorelai was perched on one of the bar stools at the counter. "Luke?" she called out, the ringing giving her a headache. "LUKE?" she said a little louder, trying to get his attention back in the kitchen. Lorelai put down her mug of coffee and rubbed her temples before standing. She placed her coat on the stool, keeping it for when she returned.

"Luke's diner, we don't give a crap about you because you aren't a physical being," she answered the phone, groggy and grumpy.

"Mom?" Rory asked, concerned about her attitude.

"Oh…Hi honey. Have you been calling non-stop for the last five minutes?"

"Yeah," she said, cautious. "I was trying to get a hold of Jess. I just finished my last final and I wanted to let him know."

"That's great sweetie, but I don't know where he is. I'll let him know if you promise to not be so insistent next time."

"Just let him know and I'll be down there tomorrow. The movers are coming for my stuff tomorrow, so I'll leave once the place is cleared out,"

"Are you still excited about the move?" Lorelai asked. "Nervous?"

"Just excited," Rory said, her voice wavering a bit. "I'm happy to be coming home."

"I'll be happy until you leave, then I'll worry," Lorelai said. "Okay?"

"Deal, I'll leave all the worrying to you. I've got to go Mom; I'm going to pack a few suitcases to tide me over until the move."

"Wait, your sizes haven't changed recently, have they?"

"I'm the same as always, make it something green this time?"

"You've got it," Lorelai said and hung up the diner's phone. There was a person hovering over her bar stool, reaching down to her coat. "Hey, I think the coat means they're coming back."

"But,"

"Back away from the stool," Lorelai threatened and the guy shrugged and went to hover over another person at the end of the bar. She moved around to the stool and picked up her coat to sit down. Lorelai slumped down on the counter, her hands firmly grasping the mug. She opened her eyes enough for slits and looked at the cup. "Bah."

"Lor?" Luke said, waking her out of the half asleep state she was in. "Who was on the phone?"

She tipped her head up, "What makes you think I answered the phone?" Luke just looked into her eyes, "Rory. Her finals are over and she's coming home tomorrow after the movers pack up her stuff."

"And why the grumpy face?" He asked, smiling and laughing to lighten her mood.

"You're crazy baby," she said and stood up. "I've got to go and you have to serve all these people."

"Uh huh," he grunted and leaned in to kiss her.

Lorelai gave Luke a quick peck on the lips. "Where's Jess anyways? I have to tell him something before I go home."

"Try upstairs. If he's not there, just tell me and I'll relay it,"

"I love you," Lorelai said and headed up to the apartment.

She knocked on the door before slowly opening it. Jess wasn't in her line of sight, but he could hear a shuffling noise on the left side of the apartment. "Jess?"

There was a large crash and Jess backed out of the closet. "Jeez," he muttered and turned around to find himself facing Lorelai. "Oh, hi."

"What are you looking for?" Lorelai pointed to the closet that was now spouting random items.

"I let your daughter con me into the dance marathon, now I need something to wear,"

Lorelai laughed, "I knew it would work. You can thank me for putting the idea in her head."

"Great," he muttered.

"Don't worry about the suit, just give me your sizes and I'll take care of it…since I got you into this,"

"Thanks," he said and sounded very genuine. "It'll be … fun."

Lorelai smiled and headed back to the door. "I've got to go, but you should get back downstairs – it's super busy. Oh yeah, Rory finished her finals, she seemed really relieved. She's coming down tomorrows after the movers pack up."

"Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll give her a call later,"

"I'll probably see you later," she said and headed downstairs, giving Luke a quick kiss before leaving he diner.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rory oversaw the movers as they put all of her boxes into a truck. The moving truck drove away and left her with a nearly empty dorm. All she had left was a few duffle bags that she hadn't moved into her car. Standing in the doorframe to her bedroom, she took in the surroundings. "This is kind of sad," she said aloud. Her bedroom was sparse; it looked just like when she first moved in.

The common room wasn't as sad, yet it was definitely different. Rory left the couch and entertainment unit (minus the equipment) for Paris. The TV and all her movies were packed and gone. There was no emotion in the room. Her mini fridge and coffeemaker were also packed away, waiting for the real moving day. Rory felt sad for Paris because she wasn't really leaving her friend with anything. In some areas it was hard to determine who owned certain things, but it had all worked out in the end.

With two duffle bags slung over her shoulders, Rory looked like a demented Santa Claus. It was probably very amusing for everyone who saw her on the short walk to her car. She dropped off her bags and went back to the room for one last time. The hall director had to check her out of the room and make sure there were no damages. After almost two years there, she was surprised when the director let her go without any charges. Rory was never a crazy partier but she had assumed there would be damage from when she was friends with Logan, Colin and especially Finn.

A small smile found its way to her lips as she remembered the fun times that went down in the room. Rory knew Logan wasn't right for her, but it seemed wrong to have to dissociate herself from his friends. It meant losing most of the people she knew at Yale. As Rory walked to her car she tried to shake away the feeling that had settled over her shoulders. She was happy to be going home – she had the dance marathon the next day.

"Get it together," she muttered as she drove away from Branford hall for the last time. "This is the start of a new segment of your life." Rory felt slightly odd talking to herself and realized that Lorelai probably did the same thing on an everyday basis. Oh well: like mother, like daughter. Before she knew it, Rory had started giving herself a pep-talk, "It's okay that you're leaving Paris. She's going to be fine and even happier with Doyle – although Doyle might not be happier. Oh well. I'm leaving her with the couch and some other stuff to keep her going. Ever since her parents left, it's been hard but she knows that she can come to me whenever she needs anything. Not that I'll be able to help her, but I'll try. Leaving the dorms may be a big step, but I love Jess. It's time that I move out on my own and get a little more responsibility – bills and such. I haven't had to do that before, it's going to be an _adventure_. This whole experience is going to be an adventure… Moving all of the stuff into the apartment; the things I had from here and the things that Mom, Lane and I bought. An adventure! At least I've got Luke and Jess to carry the heavy items up to the second floor… I finally get to decorate my own place without too much interference, that's something that I'm definitely looking forward to. Waking up to Luke's coffee every day, and even breakfast – it's going to be better than the dorms."

By the time Rory arrived in Stars Hollow, her voice was almost gone from the uncontrollable talking and even some bouts of crying. She knew Lorelai was probably right and she was just nervous, but even the idea of being nervous freaked her out. Rory was on edge, but knew that she had to get out of the car and interact with actual people. Surprisingly, being a hermit didn't appeal to her at the moment.

The town square was covered in a light layer of snow as she drove through to her house. Rory smiled when she passed the diner and a few blocks later (sitting in her driveway), she decided to turn back around and park there. Jess had decided that she would stay with him in the apartment above the diner until the New Haven apartment was ready. Rory parked a block or so away from the diner; she had arrived at a busy time and there wasn't any close parking.

Grabbing the most necessary bags, Rory left her car and went into the diner. She swung the door open with enthusiasm, ignoring the odd faces she received from the townspeople. Jess was behind the counter pouring a cup of coffee and looked up at the noise that she made. A wide grin spread across Rory's face and she dropped the bags and went behind the counter to hug him.

"What's this for?" he asked, putting down the coffeepot and returning the hug.

The smile just remained on her face and she kissed him on the cheek before turning around. Rory picked up her bags, winked to him and headed up to the apartment. Jess was left in the crowded diner, completely confused. The curtain between the stairs and the diner was still moving from her rush through it.

Rory put her bags on the floor just inside the door and lied down on the bed. It was so nice to be done with school for a month, not to mention that they were moving in together in the beginning of January. Propping herself up against the headboard, Rory began to lose herself in thought about the upcoming events: the dance marathon, Christmas, moving into the New Haven apartment, and both of them starting Yale for the spring semester. It didn't take much time after she got comfortable that she heard the footsteps coming up the stairs.

The apartment door opened quickly and Jess almost tripped over her bags. "Have you completely fallen off your rocker? What was that back there?" He stormed towards the bed, stood at the end and stared at her. The expression on his face was priceless and her mouth was still upturned in a smile as she just sat there. "What's going on?"

Rory shook her head, 'no' and reached towards him. She grasped his hand and pulled him down. Jess toppled over the bed and his head ended up in her lap. Rory looked down at him and said, "Hi."

Eyebrows raised, he responded, "Hi?"

Rory smirked and bent down to give him a deep kiss on the lips. "I love being home," she said and giggled. Her mood was incomprehensible; she was done with school and could focus solely on him again.

Jess lost his fingers in her hair, pulling her head down to his to kiss her again. "I'm glad you're home too," he said softly and completely out of character. "You could've been a little more discreet about it though," he said and laughed, back to his old self.

"Did you forget my last name? We Gilmores are never discreet; it's against the rules,"

"Ah, the rules," he said, jokingly. "You'll have to get me a copy of that book so I don't break them."

Rory shook her head, "Only family can see it."

"Well in that case…"

"Don't even think about it," she said and punched him playfully. He stuck his tongue out, obviously glad to see her riled up. "So funny man, who's taking care of the diner?"

Jess scrunched up his face and groaned, "You're no fun."

Rory pushed him off of the bed, laughing as he crashed to the ground, "Am too, see? Remember, we have rent and bills to pay starting in a few weeks. You're the working man, so get to it!"

Standing up, Jess glanced at her sideways before saying, "You're probably going to have to work when we get back to New Haven."

"I'm a step ahead of you, but I'll tell you about that later; you've got a diner to run,"

"Run?"

"I didn't see Luke, so you're in charge," Rory recalled. Jess muttered something inaudibly and headed to the door. "I'll be down in a few if you need help."

"Lane should be down there already, you'll just distract her," he turned around and winked before opening the door. "Go see Lorelai; make sure your outfit is ready for tomorrow and that I don't look like a fool."

"Too late!" Rory laughed and stuck out her tongue.

Jess returned the gesture and disappeared behind the door. _This is too much fun_, Rory thought and leaned back in the bed. She was so excited about everything to come that she couldn't contain it anymore. Punching in 1 on her cell phone, she dialed her mother and they agreed to meet at their house in a half an hour. That left Rory thirty minutes to lie there, enjoying her happiness and finally relaxing.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Lorelai finished up at the Dragonfly and left Michel in charge so she could go home and meet with Rory. She sounded so cheerful on the phone, the delight transferred to Lorelai. Their outfits for the dance marathon where perfect and she couldn't wait to show them to her daughter. Lorelai had gone shopping daily since she had gotten Rory to agree to go.

When Lorelai arrived at her house, Rory was waiting on the front porch, staring out into the street. "Why didn't you go inside?" she asked as she got out of the car. "You know it's not locked."

A smiling Rory looked at her and shrugged. "It's so nice out."

"Honey, it's thirty degrees and it's going to snow soon," Lorelai sat down next to her daughter and put an arm around her waist. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she replied and placed her head on Lorelai's shoulder. "I'm just really happy."

Lorelai gave Rory a small hug and said, "Let's go inside. As much as I like the snow, I'm not exactly dressed for it… And speaking of dresses…" She stood up and Rory joined her, walking into the house. "Over here," Lorelai called and Rory followed her into the living room.

There were two dresses and two suits hanging off of the fireplace's mantle. One of the dresses was a black halter, cinched in the waist and had a slight polka dot pattern. Lorelai took the hanger off of the mantle and held it up to Rory. "You like?"

Rory touched the soft fabric and looked at her mom. "It really is perfect," she said and took the hanger from her. "I love it." Lorelai knew the halter would fit Rory, her small frame would be accentuated by the frilly fabric.

"What do you think of mine?" she asked, holding up the second dress that was on the mantle. It was another halter, but it was a bright red and more vintage than Rory's. There was a crossing action in the front whose purpose was to lift in separate. "I found it at this thrift store, and I had to do a little work to it…" The truth was that Lorelai _had_ found it in a thrift store, but she had to do _a lot_ of work to it. The halter strap was worn out along with the built in belt. The previous owner must have undone the belt even though it wasn't really supposed to be undone. Lorelai loved to fix the dress though, it made her feel like it was her own creation.

Rory squinted, trying to imagine her mom in the bright dress. "I think it'll look great; I mean I'm sure it will look great."

"Let's go try them on," she said, excited.

"Oh fun," Rory said and rushed off to her old room.

Lorelai took her dress upstairs and changed in her bathroom, doing a quick curl to her hair to complete the look. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Rory came into her room with her dress on. It fit perfectly, as did Lorelai's, but she was amazed it wouldn't need any altering. "It looks amazing," she said and made her daughter do a little twirl. "You're gonna knock Jess's socks off."

"I do believe I will," Rory said and spun around again. She liked the way it flared out slightly when she twirled, just enough so it looked fun but not so much that everyone could see her underwear.

Pointing her finger on the top of her head, Lorelai turned around slowly like a ballerina in a jewelry box. "How do you like it?" she asked and laughed when she was facing Rory again. "Think Luke will like it?"

"Luke will love it,"

Lorelai smiled, "I know… Let's change back so nothing happens, then I can show you the really fun part."

Rory grinned and headed back downstairs, eager to see the rest. Lorelai changed into some low cut, comfortable jeans and a Blondie t-shirt. She hung the dress back on its hanger and went back downstairs. Rory had hung her dress back up on the mantle and was fingering the collar of one of the suits. "Do you like them?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Whose is this?" Rory pointed to the one she had just been touching.

It was Lorelai's favorite item from her shopping spree, even better than her dress. "That's for Jess," she said and winked. "Suits him, doesn't it?" The suit wasn't really a suit at all, but a military uniform from the 1940's. There were even a few stripes sewn onto the khaki fabric. "It was being displayed in the window of the Army Navy store I walked by. I thought it would be just the thing for him to wear. It was so easy to picture him in uniform that I had to get it."

"It _is_ really easy to imagine him in this," Rory said, studying the uniform. "I think it will look great on him. Why didn't you get something like this for Luke? It seems more like a military man – much stricter than Jess."

Lorelai picked up the suit she got for Luke and wiggled her eyebrows, "I was thinking we'd go for a different theme, kinda the opposite of you guys." The suit was black with a grey pinstripe, tailored to Luke's measurements. There was a matching vest underneath and Lorelai had even gotten the hat and shiny shoes to go with it. "I felt that since my dress is such a bright color and slightly low-cut, we could be mobsters!"

"You have always loved the mob," Rory agreed, "Except for the killing and such."

"Too messy,"

"Do you think Luke will want to be a mobster though?"

Lorelai giggled, "He has a wild side."

"Mom," Rory groaned and shook her head. "That's just wrong."

"Well he does," she said and shrugged. "I think it's perfect…all of it. We're gonna win honey, one of us is going to win."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Well… How was that for you? Did you like the nine full pages (more than twice the usual length)? It's actually almost three times its usual length, just because I'm that awesome. I feel that you guys deserved a really long, awesome chapter because I have only updated one (crappy) chapter this week. :D**

**My vacation was awesome, thank you to everyone who wished me well. I've lost a lot of money at the casinos all over town, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I took a bump on my flight, so I now have $300 to use towards my next flight(s). I flew with a good friend and we had a great time. When I got back, I also stayed up literally all night drinking with my mother, details are in my livejournal.**

**Okay, I must say that I expect a lot of reviews on this. In my opinion it's one of my best chapters yet, even though I didn't end in a stiffy, I mean cliffie. I really really like this chapter and I hope all of you do too. (I have pics of the dresses if anyone wants to see. Just send me an email).**

**Review please, you know the drill by now.**


	29. Boogie Woogie Oogie

**AN:** Uh.. Just a warning here… There's some smut in this chapter. I've changed the rating back to M, if you don't want to read it, sorry… .:sings:. its my fiction I can do what I want.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Gilmore Girls, I'm doing this just for fun.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Do you know what's going on?" Jess asked Luke as they sat on Lorelai's couch.

Luke shrugged and shook his head, 'no.' "They're probably up to something."

"Aren't they always?"

The girls had been upstairs for a good half an hour, they had told them to stay put in the living room. Every few minutes the guys heard muffled giggles, but they couldn't hear any snippets of conversation. Jess had thought about turning on the TV but he figured there was nothing on – especially nothing that Luke would like as well. "So…" he said, annoyed that it had gotten to be small talk.

"So," Luke mimicked, looking at his nephew. "How did you get roped into this? If it was the same way I was…"

"It was just a matter of coincidences, actually," Jess shook his head, figuring out Luke's last statement. "I was going to play a vacation this weekend. I thought we could get away before things around here got crazy."

"They're already crazy,"

"You know what I mean," Jess said just as Rory popped her head out from around the stairwell.

There was a large grin spread across her face and he recognized the sparkle in her eyes, "Close your eyes," she said, laughing. Jess continued to stare at her while Luke gave a resigned sigh and closed his eyes. "Come on, please? For me?"

With the exact same sigh, Jess reluctantly closed his eyes. He kept his ears open to keep track of her.

From a few feet away from him Lorelai said, "No peeking."

Jess turned in her general direction and, with his eyes still closed, raised his eyebrows. "Ow," he yelped as her finger flicked his forehead. "Not cool."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lorelai said, laying on the sweetness in her voice. "Are you guys ready?"

"Do we have a choice?" Luke asked almost rhetorically.

"Yup," Rory answered.

Her voice came from right in front of him and Jess kicked himself for not paying attention. "Really? We do?"

"Uh-huh. You can be ready and open your eyes _when we tell you to_, or you can sit there forever with your eyes closed,"

"Great choices," Luke muttered. "Jess?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

Luke gave another resigned sigh, "We're ready then."

Rory and Lorelai squealed and practically screamed, "Open your eyes!"

Jess opened his eyes to find himself staring in Rory's eyes. They were wide open, eyebrows raised in questioning and excitement. He was slightly confused until he lowered his gaze to what she was holding. "I feel like I've said this recently, but.. You've got to be kidding me."

Eyes suddenly filled with worry, Rory bit her lip while she looked between him and the uniform. "You don't like it," she said, voice wavering.

It almost broke his heart to hear the sadness in her voice; it was all too familiar when she talked to him. Jess stood up and grabbed the uniform in one hand and embraced her with the other. "Ror," he whispered into her hair, "I love it."

After a sharp inhale, Rory pulled away. "What? But…"

Jess winked and pulled her close to him again, "You didn't put me in a penguin suit," he said and laughed. "Plus… Do I get a gun?" He heard her giggle and looked in her face: Rory was smiling again. "I'm sorry I upset you…"

Shrugging, Rory replied, "It's okay I guess. I was just so worried that you would hate it and refuse to go and that everything would be ruined-"

"I've changed," Jess interrupted. "I don't ruin things anymore." He traced a finger down her chin and let it linger on her lips. "I promise."

Rory nodded, "I know." She kissed his finger and he pulled it away, replacing it with his mouth. She kissed him hard and he was even grateful she was there and that they had the opportunity to do the dance marathon. Jess raised his hands up to her hair but stopped when he heard a hoot come from Lorelai.

Breaking the kiss, he turned to Luke and Lorelai. Luke looked a little shocked but he had a smile on his face – he was holding a dark, pinstriped suit. Lorelai winked at Jess and he groaned. "What?"

"Typically it's the girl that has that sort of reaction to a suit, not the guy," she said, laughing. "I mean, jeez. I was about to push you into Rory's room."

"Mom," Rory whined. "We were just excited."

"Oh, OH, TMI!" Lorelai shrieked, covering here eyes.

A groan/laugh escaped Luke and he grabbed Lorelai's hands. "You need to get your mind cleaned."

"Like Kate Winslet in _The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_? Cos that was cool,"

"No, by a psychiatrist,"

"He was a psychiat- oh nevermind,"

Jess laughed at the insane conversation that just happened and thought it was best to change the subject – it would go on forever if he didn't. "So," he started, "I obviously know our theme…" Jess pointed to the uniform. "What's yours?"

"We're _gangsters,_" Luke muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Gangsters!" Lorelai said, thrilled at the idea.

Slowly nodding his head, Jess repeated her, "Gangsters… This is going to be interesting."

XXXXXXXXXX

"I hate you so much," Rory groaned into Jess's shoulder.

Jess moaned and responded, "I hate you too." Rory felt his arms grasp around her as he held her close. _This is nic-_

A bang on the door interrupted her thought and reminded her of the recent bitterness. "Go away!" she said as loudly as she could, which was barely above a whisper.

"Nurgh!" Jess yelled and curled down with Rory into the bed.

The pounding on the door continued but this time it was accompanied by a voice, "It's FOUR in the morning! Wake up! We have to get there by FIVE to get checked in and it starts at SIX!" Lorelai's voice carried through the heavy wooden door that separated the apartment from the stairwell.

"I hate your mother,"

"I'm sure she hates you too," Rory whined and tried to push away from Jess slowly. "Ugh," she muttered and collapsed into him again.

Lorelai continued pounding on the door, seemingly shaking the whole apartment. Rory and Jess continued to groan for what seemed like hours – until the shaking stopped. "Thank god," Rory said, squeezing him tight.

Dreams were starting to appear but were squashed down by her evil, non-step mother, "Get up!" Lorelai yelled while standing right above them. "We've got to get ready."

Rory rolled away from Jess and laid on her back, looking up into Lorelai's eyes. "Every year… Every year I forget this starts at six in the morning."

"The good thing is that it ends at six in the morning and you can promptly return back here – to where you are right now – and sleep for the next week,"

"I can't believe you conned me into this," Rory muttered, groggy but starting to move. She did agree to go and they had to be on time. "Come on Jess."

A gargled noise escaped from Jess as he rolled over onto his stomach and pulled the pillow down over his head. Rory grabbed the hand that was holding down the pillow and yanked it towards her. Lorelai stood beside her and helped pull, trying to get the stubborn boy out of bed. "Jess," Lorelai whined and let go of his hand as he pulled it back – resulting in Jess inadvertently hitting himself in the head.

The already dressed and ready Lorelai walked away from the bed and started a pot of coffee. As she was sitting down with a mug, Rory also gave up on Jess for the sake of coffee. Just then, Luke walked through the door in his gangster suit, shiny shoes and all. "What's going on here?" he asked. "I get up at three to prepare for this stupid thing and Jess is still in bed? Rory, you're not dressed!"

"Early morning Luke is even worse than everyday Luke," Rory commented and stood up. "I'm going to get ready now." She left Lorelai at the table with her coffee and headed towards the bathroom, picking up her dress on the way. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Luke clomping over to the bed and therefore also Jess. She shook her head and closed the bathroom door behind her.

The person staring back at her in the mirror appeared very tired and grouchy. _No matter how good Luke's coffee is, one cup is not enough._ Rory hopped into the shower, washing her face and brushing her teeth in it to save time.

There was a loud knock on the door as Rory stepped out of the shower. "Sanctuary!" Lorelai screeched and knocked again. "Sanctuary!" Rory grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself before opening the door to let Lorelai in. "Oh thank heavens," she said and pushed the door closed behind her.

"Mom?" Rory asked, eyebrow raised and hand clutching the towel. "Sanctuary? What was that about?"

Panting, Lorelai explained, "The guys! Luke shook Jess awake and caused him to roll off the bed. I stayed at the table watching the whole ordeal and I thought it was sooo funny until they both started complaining about the time and the shoes and the outfits! They work in a DINER, they're supposed to be MORNING PEOPLE," she emphasized that last part so they could hear. "But then I might have muttered something and I think they heard me and then they went on and on about how it was all my fault.."

Rory reached out her free hand and grabbed her mother's. "It's okay, it's just really early. I'm surprised I'm not more of a grump."

"The magical powers of coffee babe," Lorelai joked. "I know it's early but they seemed really upset. How are we going to make it through 24 hours?"

"Everything will be fine! Now, we won't have to worry about lasting the full 24 hours if you don't let me get ready,"

Lorelai turned around and faced the door. "Get dressed and I'll help with the hair and makeup."

With a small sigh, Rory did what she was told. Lorelai continued to face the door until Rory was fully dressed and gave the okay. "So I guess you have an idea for the hair?"

Grinning, Lorelai nodded and motioned for Rory to turn around. She took her daughter's towel-dried hair and quickly dried it with the travel hair dryer in the bathroom. Lorelai rummaged through Rory's toiletries bag and found some hair product to keep it soft for the full 24 hours. Then, grabbing the curling iron, she set the hair into soft curls to match her own. Almost a whole can of hairspray was used by the time Lorelai had reached the hair near Rory's face. She grabbed a lock of hair from the left and swung it over to the right, brushing and pinning until it stayed in place. Then a large, soft curl was formed and the lock of hair was pinned behind her right ear so that it was covering Rory's right eye.

"A brunette Veronica Lake," Rory said when she looked into the mirror. "Nice."

"And I am…?" Lorelai asked and turned around.

Rory thought for a minute, "Vivien Leigh." Her mother's hair was in curls like hers, but they were rolled in on the sides and pinned away from her face; with the exception of a few strands that had already made they're way out. "You need to fix it though."

A laugh escaped Lorelai's mouth, "I ran out of hairspray at home."

"We're going to run out here soon,"

Lorelai shrugged, "Oh well. Just as long as we're good for the next day."

"I feel like I am going to create a hole in the ozone just by walking outside,"

"When did you become an environmentalist?"

Rory stuck out her tongue and changed the subject. "How do you think they're doing out there?"

"I think they're fine. How about you put on a little makeup and I'll survey the damage."

"Sounds good,"

Lorelai nodded and opened the door. Once she entered the living room, she closed the door and Rory was alone again.

Examining herself in the mirror, Rory pumped herself up for the marathon. She looked great and she bet Jess looked fantastic in his uniform. _Hello fantasy!_ Rory put on some lip gloss and hid a tube of it in her dress for future applications. After some mascara and a little bronzer, she was ready to go. Too much makeup and look even worse than usual come the end of the marathon.

Rory checked herself in the mirror one more time before returning to the rest of the apartment. What she found when she got there was the three of the, sitting at the kitchen table – Lorelai and Jess with almost empty mugs of coffee.

Even only seeing him from the back, Rory felt like she fell in love with him again. Jess's hair was parted on the side and slicked down with gel. It was classy and respectable – something she wasn't used to with him. "Isn't this just the Kodak moment?" she said, happy that the argument Lorelai mentioned was no longer happening. Rory walked up to the table and wrapped her arms around Jess. "You look great."

"So do you," he said and kissed her on the cheek.

Rory kissed him back quickly and looked at Luke and Lorelai. "Are we ready to go?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," Lorelai replied.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Crazy, they're all crazy," Jess muttered as they left the diner and saw the crowd of people outside of Stars Hollow High. There was a line to get into the gym and a line outside in front of a table. It seemed like the entire town had paired off to participate in this thing.

Each couple was dressed in 1940's themed clothing which made him question what decade he really was in. Considering the residents of Stars Hollow he could've woken up a half century earlier. Jess was thankful that when they approached the line to the table, people were speaking in current day language. It would've been too much if the residents of an entire town had decided to roll play for 24 hours straight.

The four of them entered the line for registration and Jess smiled when Rory snuggled in close to him. He put his arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. Five AM really was a little much, especially when they'd be staying up so long. Thinking about it, Jess figured out that it actually did make sense to start it that early – then he cursed himself silently for thinking so much in the morning. The good thing about the diner is that it wasn't a real cognitive job; he could do it in his sleep.

Rory and Jess were creeping forward in the line, not talking but happy being with each other. Jess was aware that Luke and Lorelai had started talking to some of their friends; he heard the word 'lemon' and 'asparagus' and figured it was Sookie and Jackson. Rory said something about everyone being there, but that was one of the things he didn't really care about. He didn't even care if they won…for him it was just for fun. Rory didn't seem too gung-ho on the idea of winning either, he guessed she was in it just for her mother. Jess figured the early hour was getting to him, he was actually happy that they were participating in a town event together. Crazy.

"Thank you," Rory said, looking up at him and almost sensing exactly what he was thinking about. "I know it's early…"

"Yeah, it is. But I figured out why: If they started it in the afternoon, people would have already done things during the day and worn them out so they wouldn't last 24 hours," he pulled his arm around her tighter. "And I'm here with you, so I don't mind that much."

"I love you,"

"I love you too," he said sweetly and kissed her on the forehead.

Jess lost himself in the feeling of her against him until a voice called, "Next," from the table. They shuffled up to the table and he gave the lady their names. "Here's your number, now you have to go to the infirmary and get checked out but since we have so many people this year…you can just go inside when they give you the okay."

"Thanks," he said and ushered Rory off to the room marked the infirmary.

"Hold on," Rory said, stopping abruptly. She turned around and looked back to where her mom and Luke were standing. He could hear Lorelai explain that they heard her when she explained to Jess and Rory but the lady at the table gave her the same spiel anyways. Luke accepted their numbers and they headed over to where Jess and Rory were standing. "Mom, coffee."

"I know sweetie, let's go," Lorelai said and took Rory's hand, leading her away from him.

Saddened because Rory was no longer by his side, Jess called out, "Wait!" The two women turned around. "We have to get checked out before we can go inside."

"Don't you think that if there are so many people that you don't actually have to check in that you got your physical, that you don't actually have to get your physical?"

Jess focused on the words coming out of her mouth but he had a hard time making sense of what Lorelai was saying. "I…"

As if sensing his confusion, Rory walked up and kissed him on the lips quickly. "I'm going to down a few cups of liquid caffeine. You go with Luke and stake out a spot on the dance floor since it's going to be so crowded. Once we're fully awake, Mom and I will come back and hopefully there will be enough time for us to escape for a bit before the whole thing starts."

Jess leaned forwards and kissed her again, lingering a bit before removing his lips from hers. He placed his hands on her chin and looked into her eyes, "You know what you're doing."

Rory nodded and kissed him again before turning to walk away with Lorelai. Jess breathed deeply and sighed. He turned to Luke, "You heard the girl."

There was a small smirk on Luke's face as they turned to go into the gymnasium. "You are SO whipped."

"I don't see you saying no. Look at your shoes," Jess said, pointing out his hypocrisy. "Let's face it, the Gilmore women have us tied around their fingers." Both of them thought about the statement and sighed. It was completely and utterly true. Jess and Luke would do anything Rory and Lorelai asked…the best part being that they were both happy about it. "How do you feel about participating in this thing?" Jess wasn't sure of Luke's opinion; from what he remembered, Luke hated town events as much as he did.

Luke continued walking in silence for a minute until they had found a spot on the dance floor. He turned to Jess and smiled an uncanny smile. "I'm happy."

"But it's a town event…at six in the morning…"

"Lorelai deserves to win," Luke said, calmly. "I plan on helping her achieve that. Plus, I'll be happy if anyone but Kirk wins – that damn trophy is annoying." He laughed at the thought of a trophy-less Kirk and Jess joined in. He hadn't been there for the last few marathons but guessed that Kirk walked away a winner each time. That guy was pretty annoying…

"So I guess I'm not the only one unnaturally happy to be here," Jess said and shrugged. He figured the 40's atmosphere was getting to him as he thought, _well I'll be._

Instead of making their own conversation until the women returned, Jess and Luke listened in on the people around them. There were grunts of, "It's too early," which he agreed with, and people were even taking bets on who would win. Jess was shocked to find his and Rory's name mentioned a few times but it oddly felt nice to be accepted into the town that formerly hated him.

Lost in thought, Jess was thoroughly surprised when Rory and Lorelai had approached their spot on the dance floor. He was taken out of his trance by a light touch to the hand and her eyes staring into his. "Come on," she said, hauling him away just as he heard Taylor step up to the microphone. Lorelai looked at them questioningly but Luke was just staring at Lorelai. Jess followed Rory out a side exit of the gym and only managed to catch a few bits of what Taylor was saying.

"Rory?" He asked when she continued to pull him farther away from the gymnasium. "Rory, wait!"

Jess thought he had finally gotten her attention when she stopped and turned around. He was caught off guard when she pushed him against the wall and started to kiss him deeply. "Rory," he gasped when she finally broke the kiss. "Rory."

Rory's mouth upturned in a twisted smile, he didn't know what had gotten into her. "They're going to start the marathon in like…five minutes. If we're not there, we can't participate…" She quieted his complaints with a kiss and he found himself pulling her closer, even though her entire body was pressed up against his.

They separated again, Jess panting for air and Rory's eyes gleaming. "Is five minutes not enough?"

It took him a few seconds to realize what she was implying and his eyes widened. "Rory!"

Grabbing the collar of his uniform, she pulled him to her and turned so that her back was to the wall. They were in the hall of their former high school, in between sets of lockers. They could hear the band in the gym warming up, waiting to begin. Here he was, making out with his girlfriend – who was struggling to get the complicated military belt undone.

"This is not part of the fantasy," she said, angry. Rory looked up at Jess and he saw the desire in her eyes. He pushed her up against the wall with one hand and distracted her from his belt by kissing her deeply, using his tongue to explore her mouth for the millionth time.

Jess undid the belt and found her free hand, placing it on the zipper. As Rory undid his zipper, he bent down slowly to grab the hem of her dress. The silky fabric was smooth in his finger and he was careful not to wrinkle it. Jess ran his hand up her thigh until he felt the lacy material of her thong underwear. _This is no time to be romantic_, he thought as he hesitated to touch her softness. They didn't have the time to waste. He pushed away the lacy material and rubbed two fingers over her clit.

Rory moaned and he muffled it with another deep kiss. With his tongue, he mimicked the motion he was doing with his fingers. He teased her as much as he felt he could in the situation, inserting a finger into her a little bit, then a little more, then two fingers and so on until he couldn't take it anymore. Her gentle hands were pulling on his hardness that she had released from his pants. She was pulling him to her but when he got close, she let go and lifted up her dress so it wouldn't get dirty. "Jess," she moaned between kisses.

The moan was enough to take away all his self control. He plunged into her, making her body arch with pleasure. He continued to kiss her deeply, moving to her neck and careful not to give her hickeys. She remained clutching her dress but was moving to meet his rhythm. Each time she went to moan, he felt it and kissed her, keeping her quiet. "I love you," he said when he parted the kiss again. Rory dipped her head down in pleasure and nodded, unable to speak. She had been like that many a times before and he knew what it meant – she was close.

Jess took her dress material out of her hands as he continued to stroke in and out. "You do it," he said and plunged all the way in. Rory's hands went to his pants-covered ass and pulled herself towards him. He pulled back and she continued to rock back and forth. "Come on," he encouraged, feeling her body tense around him. "Come on Rory."

Rory took a deep breath in and her hands clenched his butt. He didn't pull away that time, but stayed inside her, feeling the vibrations of her climax. Jess looked into her eyes and she nodded again. Her hands raised up to her waist but quickly fell to her sides; she was tired. Jess stroked in and out a few times quickly until he could feel himself about to climax as well. He kissed her hard as he pressed against her, coming inside. "I love you," he repeated.

"I love you too," she said slowly, the pleasure of the last few minutes wearing her down. "We should go…"

Jess nodded and pulled himself out of her and replacing himself in his pants. Rory rearranged her panties and let down her dress. They surveyed each other to see if anything looked out of place, nothing was. He grabbed her hand and walked them back to the direction they came from.

The entire gym floor had filled with people in the time they were gone. Jess spotted Luke and Lorelai, who were standing by Lane and Dave. Rory and Jess rushed over to meet them. Lorelai looked at both of them suspiciously and Luke was once again lost in the wonder that was Lorelai. Lane and Dave weren't paying attention to details, they just greeted them with hugs and got in position to start dancing.

"Coffee," Jess said, letting Lorelai take it as an excuse instead of a statement of want. They were going to need a lot of coffee to get through the next 24 hours. He wasn't sure if Lorelai accepted the excuse but just glared for a few seconds before returning her attention to Luke.

All three couples had just gotten into dancing positions when the big band started playing swing music and Taylor blew his foghorn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Oh, sorry for the smut. I was horny… :D. That's what uniforms do to me I guess. I hope you guys didn't mind, I'm sure you don't considering the response I had from the last semi-sex scene. I took this one just a tad further, as you could see. I enjoyed writing it, I hope you enjoyed reading it.**

**This chapter isn't exactly as long as the last one but I think I needed to stop here. Chapter 30 will be the actual bulk of the dance marathon, drama and all (I hope). Next week of school has the potential of being very, very demanding. I don't know yet. I'm going to try to write as much of it as I can tomorrow but no promises as to when it will be up. I'm guessing next weekend. Sorry if you all liked the short chapters daily, I'm the author and I can do what I want! J/K, but seriously, just take it for what it is… I have a life outside of my fanfiction.**

**Please review, reviews are love.**


	30. Long Time Coming

**AN**: Oh god this took forever. Sorry (read the AN at the bottom for more infos).

**Disclaimer**: Be not mine.

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"Two pretzels were walking along the street," Jess said to Rory, who was beginning to lean on him a little more than before. She smiled at the mere thought of the pretzels walking. "One was assaulted." It took her a minute, but when Rory got the joke, she started to laugh hysterically. "Come on Ror, we've got another twelve hours! You can't go goofy on me now!"

"Too late," she giggled, just as Lorelai and Luke danced by them. "Mom!"

Lorelai's head bobbed up and down, a grin spread across her face. "I heard. He's a funny man. We should call him funnyman."

"Because diner man is already taken," Luke added, sarcastically.

"Naw, if you call me funnyman, people will constantly come up to me wanting me to tell jokes. You can't do that to me,"

"Too late, funnyman," Lorelai giggled and danced Luke away.

Jess looked deeply at the woman he was dancing with: she had a goofy smile toying with her features, the sleep and lack of coffee apparent. She had reached slap happy mode. "Ror?"

"Yeah baby?"

"Baby?" He repeated, surprised. "Baby?"

"Would you rather be funnyman?"

Shaking his head 'no,' Jess kissed her on the lips. "As I said, there's twelve hours left…"

"Uh huh," she grunted and leaned into him a little more.

"Do we really need to stay for the next twelve hours or just quit now and say we tried? We could go home and go to bed…"

"Dirty, dirty boy!" she giggled into his chest. "Maybe I should call you dirty-boy…but that'd be my name only!" Rory made a noise that he swore was a rowr and he laughed.

"You're tired," he pointed out. She was always goofy but it was worse when she was tired.

Rory nodded, but lifted her head up to look in his eyes as she talked. "So is everyone else here. We have to stay for Mom."

"You know I'm only doing this because I love you,"

Her head collapsed back onto his chest, "You know you love it too."

Jess smiled and kissed her forehead. It was going to be a long twelve hours, but damn her being right.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lorelai and Luke trotted away from the younger couple; Luke followed her because he couldn't let go of her hand, and she might fall down if he did. This marathon was a crazy idea and everyone in it was crazy too. That included him too. Oh well, he shrugged. Lorelai had led them to a corner of the gym, at a distance from everyone else. "Sudden urge to be alone?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She nodded and rested her head against his chest. Lorelai's eyes were focused on the crowd, but he could feel her squeeze him. "Time to observe a bit, there aren't many people left."

Luke smiled and rocked them back and forth, keeping his feet stationary. "That, and you're tired." He yelped when she kicked his shin, "Okay okay, everyone's tired."

"I'm a champion," she said, sleepily. "I never get tired."

"Uh huh," he grunted and started to dance backwards, towards the crowd. "Never tired."

Luke spotted Jess and Rory dancing next to Lane and Dave. He couldn't see Sookie or Jackson anywhere but he hadn't seen them leave either. Dancing Lorelai over towards the group, he announced, "As much as I hate to say this, we need a coffee fix."

Jess nodded adamantly, "She's about to go on me too."

"Same here," Dave added.

Luke looked at the three women and began to laugh. "Why are they tired and we're…"

"For starters, I got..what? Three hours more sleep than you?" Jess smirked and shifted Rory around in his arms so she was facing everyone else. "You're the one that busted in two hours earlier than need be this morning."

The motion had a delayed response on Rory, who looked around confused. "What? Where's Jess?" She looked around and then her head drooped down again.

The three men laughed heartily as Jess tapped her on the shoulder and she twisted her neck to see him. "It's okay, just stay awake until we can get you coffee." There was a small nod barely visible, and her head drooped back down to her chest.

Lorelai's arms still encircled Luke's torso and he remained dancing for the sake of the crazy marathon. "What about you Dave? Why is Lane half asleep and you seem fine?"

The small Asian woman in Dave's arms twitched at her name, but didn't respond. "She's been on a funky sleep schedule ever since we got back from touring… I on the other hand, have been getting ready for this. She'll pipe back up around 3am…"

"Smart man," Jess muttered. "I've been opening the diner and getting ready to move. I apparently need very little sleep to function though," he glared at Luke when he mentioned the diner.

"You said you'd work as much as I wanted before you moved, to make up for the fact that you were moving," Luke reminded him.

"I know, I know," Jess muttered. "Thank you because I need the money too. Now, let's find some coffee before they become more deadweight."

"Hey," a groan escaped all three women's lips.

"Imagine that," Luke chuckled. "Automatically think we're talking about their weight."

"Well…" Dave said, wearily, "We were…"

"It was a joke, Dave,"

"Hey look, coffee," he said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

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… **I'm actually really sorry peoples. This is a short little chapter but I have had it written for like a week already and I just decided to post it and let you all know I'm still alive. I'm alive and I have a broken stress-o-meter. It got too big and the end just popped right off. Thank you to everyone that reviewed my last chapter (except for a recent one that was extremely bitchy, you can blow me). **

**I got a second job… I now have 2 jobs, an internship, and school. Finals are coming up and I probably would've written last Sunday but I kinda wrote a 10 page term paper from 11am-10pm. Straight. I was all writinged out. Now I'm just tired and a little crazy. If you want a better explanation for the like, month, hiatus…just review or shoot me an email starcastic(at)gmail(dot)com. I swear the gods just haven't wanted me to write, that or they just want to drive me up the freakin wall.**

**Please review even though it took forever to post and it's tiny. Sorry.**


	31. And the Winner is

**AN**: It's been forevars.

**Disclaimer**: I wish it was mine.

The time ticked down on the clock and the three couples found themselves standing all in a group, staring. The band had taken a break and they weren't scheduled to come back until the last hour. That was another hour away too; most of them couldn't believe that they had already made it through 22 hours of dancing.

After the midway coffee break, they had stuck together, keeping the large dance moves to a minimum. The tables had turned on the deadweight though; the men were now the ones a little tired. Jess hadn't stayed up all night seen he was cramming for his finals at SUNY. Luke always went to bed at a normal time and would be getting up around now, considering it was four in the morning. Dave and Lane, on the other hand, regularly stayed up all night…it just happened to be that caffeine had a much larger effect on Lane than it did Dave.

"Remind me again why we're awake at four?" Rory said, arms wrapped around a sleepy Jess. "This is going to throw off my whole schedule."

"Doesn't this fit right in to your schedule? Remember finals week?" Lorelai reminded her. "Lets just not try to move Luke's again, I think my brain pulled something last time."

"That's assuming there was a something in your brain to pull!" Rory laughed and squeezed Jess in the process, extracting a loud groan.

Jess started to stand on his own and took her arms off from around him, still holding on to her hands. "Coffee," he grunted.

"See what this is doing to us?" Rory joked with Lorelai as she and Jess walked over to the coffee stand. "So…"

"24 hours seems a lot shorter when you're sitting down,"

"And when the music is good,"

"That's true, what happened to the band?" Jess asked, looking over to the empty stage. A drunken Taylor and a very happy Miss Patty were the only people left. "What did I miss?"

"You've only been out of it for an hour or so…" Rory smiled and lead them back to the group. Jess wrapped his arm around her waist and playfully bumped up against her.

Tilting his head over to her ear, he whispered, "When we get home…"

"Oh yeah?" Rory said, before he could finish.

"You owe me for this," he said and leaned his head back up, winking at her. "Just wait."

"Wait for what?" Lane asked, overhearing the last part of their conversation. Rory shook her head, 'no,' and smiled. "Oh."

"That's my girl," Lorelai added, knowing exactly what they were talking about. "Are you going to close down the diner so nobody can hear?" Luke perked up at the word 'diner' but leaned his head back on Lorelai's shoulder.

Jess, having time to get the caffeine in his system, replied, "Everybody in this crazy town is here. When we get to go home, they get to go home. We're all going to bed. The diner's closed."

"That was a lot of words, did it hurt?"

Jess just rolled his eyes at Lorelai, "Plus, we're not that loud."

A blush immediately rose to Rory's cheeks and Lorelai giggled. "I beg to differ!" she said loudly and burst out laughing. "It's going to be great when you're in your own apartment, isn't it?"

"It's going to be fantastic," Rory said with a large smile on her face. "Too bad we have to wait another month to move in!"

"And then we don't get much time before school starts," Jess added.

"You know all of Stars Hollow is proud of you for that, right?" Lorelai asked.

The tables had turned and it was now Jess who was blushing. "He knows," Rory said with a nod, "Now let's make them proud for something else." She led them away from the group, out to the middle of the dance floor. "Let's win this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Rory and Jess went off by themselves, they left Lorelai trying to wake up Luke. Lane and Dave were staring at each other, contemplating how much they really wanted to win this, compared to going home and staying in bed for the next twenty four hours. The contemplation didn't last long, and they both said goodbye to Luke, Lorelai, Rory and Jess.

Another hour went by and there were only four couples left when the band began again for the final hour. There was Luke and Lorelai, Rory and Jess, Kirk and some random woman, and a couple that nobody had really seen before. It was kind of like Danny Zuko and the dark-haired woman in Grease. They were stealing the show and everybody was looking on in jealousy.

Lorelai wanted the trophy very badly, but Luke couldn't even stand on his own anymore. All of the other couples were still managing to dance a bit, and Lorelai saw the title slipping through her fingers. "Come here," she called to her daughter.

Rory and Jess boogied over to Lorelai, "What's up?" Jess asked.

"I'm going to lose!" Lorelai whispered. "I know it. Dinerman over here is about to topple over. I can't last another hour."

"More coffee?" Rory suggested, eliciting a head-shake out of Lorelai. "Oh… But you have to win this. You have to!"

Jess took Rory's hand and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Lorelai looked on, worried. "What are you saying?"

Rory smiled at something Jess said and she turned to her mom. "Don't worry about winning, Mom. You'll get your trophy."

Lorelai brightened up a bit but was still obviously disappointed that she had to quit. She wasn't a quitter. "I trust you." She said and shook Luke to wake him up just a bit. "Let's go sit down."

Luke grumbled something that wasn't even English, but she quickly shushed him. "Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With Luke and Lorelai on the sidelines, Jess knew what this really meant now. He and Rory had to win and it would be a victory for both couples. The _Grease_ couple had started to slow down, which was good because there was only around a half hour left. Kirk and his mystery woman were still dancing around, like they hadn't been doing the same thing for the last twenty-three and a half hours. "They need to stop showing off," he said to Rory, swinging her back and forth slowly. They weren't going to break contact at any costs, so their hips stayed attached and they were hugging quite like Rory had done with Lorelai at the first dance marathon he witnessed.

Jess turned his head to the side and kissed her forehead, thinking back to that night…day…whatever.

"_She's not my girlfriend anymore," Dean spat at him before leaving Rory alone on the dance floor, stunned. Those words, despite how much they obviously hurt Rory, were the best ones he had heard in a long time. Until then he kept hearing how he couldn't have her…the one thing he wanted in Stars Hollow._

_The little rant Dean went on was entirely true, and he was kind of surprised that the towering imbecile had actually paid attention to what was going on between them. Seeing Rory alone on the dance floor, he just wanted to scoop her up and take her for his own. Too bad she left before he could. When she left like that, Jess knew he had to find her, because Dean was right, they needed to be together. Thank god for that bridge…_

"We got together because of the last marathon," he said, smiling. "Do you remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"I always wondered why we didn't get together before then," he stated. Rory looked up into his eyes, which were in the process of narrowing into slits. "I was just asking!"

"But you _do_ know why!" she said, agitated.

"Yeah, but do you remember Dean's speech? 'You've been into him since he got into town,' he said. 'Everyone can see,' he said. You knew I liked you, I knew you liked me. I could tell. Why didn't we get together sooner?"

"Good things come in time," was all she said.

"Well I don't want to end up like your mom and Luke. I can't help but think if I had tried harder to get you that we wouldn't have had that long time apart."

Rory shook her head, "I remember everything that he said. I remember everything that has to do with you. But…Look at us. We're not them. We're together. I'm not worrying, and you shouldn't either. Maybe the time apart made us into the kind of people who will actually be able to stay together. We were _so_ young then."

"I wasn't the kind of person who would stay," he said sadly.

"But now you are," Rory said softly and kissed him on the neck. "I love you – the you now and the you then."

"Look!" Jess said, excited. He raised one hand off her waist and pointed to the mystery couple. They were in the middle of some stupid swing-dancing move and the guy had tripped. "One couple down!"

Rory looked over her shoulder at the fallen couple and turned back to stare at Jess. "I'll take that as an 'I love you too'..."

Jess rolled his eyes and wrapped both arms around her again. "I love you too, Ror," he said sweetly into her ear and gave her a small kiss. "You know that."

She nodded a bit and rested her head back on his chest.

"I was just thinking…" he said, causing Rory to giggle. "Hey! I was thinking…what happens if there's two couples left at hour 24?"

Rory's mouth opened to answer and there was a loud crash over by the stage. "What was that?" she asked instead of answering. The couple's attention shifted to the commotion and both of their heartbeats quickened. Kirk's dancing partner was standing next to a pile of people connected to instruments, none of her body touching a nowhere-to-be-seen Kirk. "We…"

"We won?" Jess finished, surprised.

"We WON!" Rory screeched and grabbed Jess's hand to run over to the stage. She completely ignored the fallen band members and started yelling at Miss Patty, who was slumped over in her chair. "WE WON, COME ON! WE WON!"

While Miss Patty startled awake, Jess twirled Rory around and proceeded to squeeze her and kiss her. They came up for air just as Taylor blew his blow-horn and woke up the entire gymnasium. "We have our winners!" he announced, pointing to the making-out couple. "Ah-hem," he cleared his throat into the microphone. "A victory lap?"

The grin on Rory's face widened and she reached up for the trophy and dragged Jess over to where Luke and Lorelai were standing. The excitement on Lorelai's face was palpable; she stood and hugged Rory, all the while touching the trophy.

"Go on your victory lap," he said to the mother-daughter pair. "I'm just glad it's over." He faked the bad attitude and plopped down next to the sleeping Luke. Jess looked on as the two made their way around the gymnasium with their trophy, applause erupting from the remaining spectators.

By the time they returned to him on the sidelines, Jess was thoroughly ready to go home. "Remember what you promised earlier?" he asked, embracing Rory.

Rory blushed and went on her toes to kiss him. Jess wrapped his arm around her waist again and they gave the trophy to Lorelai before leaving the gym to their temporary apartment. Promises were made to keep.

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**It's finals week! I stopped here so I could read my speech book. Yay for finally updating, right? Yay for Rory and Jess winning. Look forward to some sexiness as the beginning of the next chapter. Also, I had an awesome drama-inducing stuff for the next few chapters and kinda forgot it because it's been so long. So you know what that means! I want IDEAS people! Gimme! Tell me what you want to see and you will SEE IT. I don't know if I should skip some more time or what, just let me know. **

**Also, I thought about stopping this story when they move in together and starting a new one with their life when school starts. Would you like that or just continue on this one? I also have another idea coming up in my head that I'm doing for a challenge so… yeah. Tell me what you want.**

**And, Review por favor. I love reviews and I would LOVE suggestions in the reviews. Thanks!**


	32. Formidable Opponent of the Stairy Kind

**AN**: Finals are over! Here you go!

**Disclaimer**: Just because I don't own them doesn't mean I don't get to play.

* * *

The stairs up to the apartment over the diner proved to be a formidable opponent, one they preferred not to face. Jess and Rory stood at the bottom of the staircase, looking up at the door that held the bed. The place that provided seclusion for sleep, among other things.

"We'll have to go up there sometime," Rory whimpered, leaning her whole body against his. "That's where the bed is!"

Jess shook his head and held on to Rory. "Why do apartments have stairs?"

"Why do stairs have to be so…stair-y?"

"Stair-y?" Jess repeated, looking into her eyes. "I may be tired but I know that's not a word."

Their voices were tired and neither one wanted to do any strenuous movement. The last twenty-four hours had finally taken their toll, the initial excitement over the win had vanished. With their heads knocked together the couple continued looking at the evil creation known as stairs.

"You know…" Jess whispered, breaking the silence. "We don't _have_ to go up there." His trademark grin spread across his face and Rory knew immediately he was up to something.

Instead of answering, Rory just raised an eyebrow and challenged his look with her own. When he continued grinning she realized her withering stare had diminished over the years. "Jess, what?" He raised his eyebrow and appeared to be mimicking her stare. Jess looked around the diner and shrugged. "What? No!" Rory yelped, understanding his silence. "It's the diner! We eat here!"

"And I work here," he added. "So what?" Jess took her by the hand and lead Rory over to the counter. "Up," he commanded.

Rory knew she had to knock some sense into him but she complied anyways. It would be easier with the, literal, higher ground. "Jess…" she started, trying to ignore his hands wrapping around to the back of her dress; trying to ignore the perfect amount of pressure he was putting on her aching lower back. "Somebody could see."

"Once again, so what?" he replied, taking one hand off her back and running it down her thigh. "Do we really care what they see?"

She tried to answer, but her voice lost itself as soon as he pushed her dress up towards her waist. A little kiss placed on her inner thigh and her brain almost shut down completely. _A promise is a promise,_ she reasoned, enjoying the feel of his rough finger tips twirling in a circular pattern. "Jess.."

A well placed flick of the tongue quickly silenced her again. Jess stood up off the bar stool and wrapped his hands around her waist again. He pulled her to the edge of the counter and whispered her name into her ear. A moan escaped Rory's lips and he silenced her again with a kiss. _This is not going to work_, she thought when she realized the height of the counter. _He could kneel on the stool and I could leaned against the counter…or I could try to support him with my legs._

"Rory?" Jess said questioningly. She focused her attention on him once again and blushed. She had her dress up around her waist, legs wrapped around the man of her dreams, and she was thinking of the logistics of sex. "I lost you there…"

Rory nodded and kissed him passionately as a form of apology. She reached down to his pants, having a slight déjà vu to the experience a little over 24 hours ago. The passion in that moment was delirious, and Rory knew she could replicate it…and more.

Her surprise must have been visible when she reached down to find his belt already undone because a smirk had erupted on his face before he kissed her again. The shock was momentary and she proceeded to unzip the fly and push down the pants of his uniform. "Sit," she commanded, the control transferred over to her.

Jess conformed without complaint, something that he wouldn't have done when they were in high school. Without unwrapping her legs from his waist, he sat back down at the stool. Her previous loss of attention had uncovered how it was going to work. Jess didn't need to be told once, let alone twice, what to do. His hands were under her ass and propping her up so she could release him to enter her.

Rory wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss as they started to rock back and forth. Her moans were muffled by his mouth. Rory had forgotten about the diner and the town, everything besides Jess wasn't close to being in her consciousness.

"I love you," he whispered and started to lift her up and set her down, relieving her of any work she'd have to do to gain pleasure. Her moans increased and on the occasion that she opened her eyes, she could see him smile.

She prodded his mouth with her tongue and nodded as well as she could while she was attached to him. "Uh huh," she groaned and pulled him as close as she could. "Oh!"

Rory's eyes shot open as she came, completely lost in herself. She stared into his eyes and thanked god for promises…not noticing the figure on the other side of the diner's window, partially illuminated by the rising sun.

* * *

**Short, I know… Smutty, I know… I figured the smut made up for the length though. Also, _drama!_ Isn't that fantabulous? I seem to think so. From here I plan on returning the characters to normal and adding a bit of drama. I have two ideas of what is going to happen (dark figure) and something I thought of while reading a few of my old chapters.**

**Finals are officially over and grades were due today at noon. This means that I will hopefully receive them tomorrow and find out what I got in my last class. Currently I am at A, A, A, A- (goddamn – sign), and my unknown (it's gonna be either A or A-). So that last grade decides whether I get a 3.92 or a 3.86. To anyone who has just finished finals, currently taking them, or going to soon be, I feel your pain and it will be over soon.**

**In other news, Word says that 'fantabulous' is a word. That kicks ass.**

**AND, I have a new fic! It's TOTAL SMUT. It's AWESOME, even though it is Lorelai and Logan. :D GO READ IT!**


	33. Break In

**AN**: Overwhelming response on the cliffhanger I left you with! Thank you! And thank all of you who went to my other fic, even the ones that flamed me for no reason. A review is a review and maybe it's a good thing you took your head out of your ass long enough to type something. Fresh air is good for you.

**Disclaimer**: Do you think if I owned Milo, I'd be sitting here writing? HA!

* * *

"Nurr," Jess muttered as he rolled over, arm draped over Rory's sleeping body. Somewhere to his left a phone was ringing and it wasn't very appreciated. "Ror," a groan escaped, deep and earthy. 

A small whimper preceded her high-school reply of, "Five more minutes."

Jess kept his eyes tightly closed against the daylight that was streaming through the windows and reached towards the ringing. There was a loud crash as he knocked over the lamp before grabbing the cell phone. "Do you know what _time_ it is?" he asked, annoyed.

"Three in the bloody afternoon," Paris replied, sounding very annoyed as well. "Where the hell are you?"

"Ugh," he said and held the phone to Rory's ear. He could still hear Paris's distinct voice but at least it was no longer a jackhammer into his brain. Rory jumped up at the first few words that came through the phone. Jess couldn't be sure if it was something she said or because she woke up to Paris. He wiggled into the pillows and turned on his side to fall back asleep when Rory started shaking him. "What?"

The look in her eyes forced him to sit up (way too quickly) and grab her hand. "What's wrong?"

"I..we have to go back to Yale. Now," she commanded, squeezing the last bit of sleep out of him. She stood and started to get dressed when she realized they were still wearing the clothing from the marathon. "Oh well! Get up, get up!"

Jess jumped out of the bed and ran his finger through his hair. "Tell me what's going on," he asked, thoroughly worried. "Please just calm down and tell me what happened."

"Our apartment," she said, grabbing her purse and shoes. "Somebody broke in!"

"But none of our stuff is there yet," he thought out loud and caught his shoes as she threw them at him. "It's not even _ours_ yet."

"It will be," Rory said, pouting at the thought or because he refused to move… "We've paid the first month's rent already!"

"What's the big deal about someone breaking in? There's nothing to steal," he said and regretted it immediately. Rory's look transformed from a pout to an angry glare. If Jess didn't know better, he could've mistaken it for her withering stare. He seriously didn't understand what was going on – he did his best to ignore Paris on the phone and now Rory was withholding information. "You have to tell me what happened or I'm not leaving this apartment."

After a long series of huffs, Rory placed a hand on her hip and explained.

* * *

"The landlord says there's writing all over the walls, a hole somewhere in the kitchen…some windows are broken and I don't even know what else," Rory said, exasperated. "Paris was all in a rush and I'm glad we put her down on our contact list because apparently we slept though the other four calls I had on my phone," 

"By the way, where is your phone? She said he called you too. How could we sleep through this? We're supposed to move in there in like three weeks – how are we going to now? It was the _perfect apartment. Our perfect apartment._" Rory started crying at the end of her rant and was very thankful that Jess's arms instinctively wrapped around her. "How could this happen? Why?"

Jess's soft voice whispered in her ear, "I don't know." He held her close and played with her hair – he knew just what to do to calm her down.

"We have to go,"

She felt him nod and Rory shifted out of his warm embrace and let him put on his shoes. Rory didn't know why this was happening to them…out of all the apartments on campus, out of all the apartments in that building…it just had to be theirs? She couldn't help but wondering what they did to deserve this.

They quickly left the apartment, closed and locked the diner before getting into their car. Jess took the drivers seast and Rory couldn't think to put up a fight. Her mind was going a mile a minute and she knew the road wouldn't be her primary focus.

"Why?" she whispered, a lone tear teetering in her eye. She reached over to Jess and gingerly placed her hand on his knee. Rory could feel his muscles tense before he dropped one of his hands to cover her own.

"I don't know," was his quiet reply.

The rest of the ride was silent although Rory swore she could hear the wheels churning in their brains. _How much damage was there? Was there anything that couldn't be fixed? If it can be fixed, how much will it cost?_ And the worst of all: _will we have to find a new apartment?_ It had seemed too good to be true, and they both knew it. The antique, homey feeling and unique craziness of the soon-to-be decorations would replicate her mother's in a way she never felt could be possible. Yet over all the questions she had, she wondered most of all: _why us_?

The ride seemed to be both very long and very short by the time they reached the apartment building. It had only been a little under 45 minutes – Jess had obviously been driving fast. Then again, she'd done enough thinking for the rest of the year. Their landlord was outside of the building waiting for them. Unfortunately the apartment was on the other side from the entrance, there wasn't any visible damage yet.

"I'm glad we got a hold of you," he said while shaking Jess's hand. "You might want to prepare yourself before going in."

**

* * *

You know what? You can deal with another chapter of basic uselessness. No, I have not really given any clues to who the dark, strange pervert is. I, along with one other person, know who it is already… You'll find out in chapter 34 because I'm not sure how to reveal it yet. **

**I have a plan for basically the rest of this storyline, and I have ideas for the sequel/continuation/whatever. I think I'm going to shut this down and start another one as a sequel – although I really really don't want to lose all of you! You'll read it, right:insecure:**

**I wanted to give you something short and eh cos I don't know when you'll see 34. I'm trying to write more in this adorable Dr. Seuss notebook I got. Lately if I'm not at one job, I'm at the other, or I'm sleeping. That's basically my life. Anyone else working 70 hour weeks? Yeah, it blows.**

**...I'm sorry, this chapter really sucks. I really am truely sorry. I wouldn't post it but I have to get through this icky stuff to get to the good stuff (like the last chapter!)**


	34. Words on the Walls

**AN: **Sorry it took so damn long…the pressure was getting to me.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

* * *

"Well boys, that was one _hell_ of a party," Finn slurred, the smell of scotch dispersing through the early evening air. There was a chorus of agreements from the rest of their group. The most aged members of the Life and Death Brigade (Finn, Colin, Logan) along with a few newer members (Stephanie et al) were all relaxing in one of New Haven's coffeehouses. "Not that I am against any sort of event including liquor," he said and paused. "But why was I woken up on a Sunday morning when this could've taken place much later? Preferably when dark…" 

Logan ignored the majority of the boys rant and leaned back into one of the couches. He felt the need to answer to nobody. There was nothing in him that any of the LDB members would understand – or he assumed_. There was some saying about assuming_, he wondered, lost in his own thought. A voice called his name and took him out of his trance. The other members had gathered around him and he could tell they were armed with questions. "What?"

Stephanie looked slightly taken aback but was the first to respond, "What— "

"Like Finn said, any excuse to drink, right?" he said, cutting her off. "Forget about it and let's plan for tonight.

The group let out a collective sigh and Stephanie shook her head. They were used to a closed up Logan, especially after the whole Rory debacle. It was sad to think that the first time he lets someone be his _girlfriend_, she leaves him for another guy. They'd be lucky if Logan ever fully recovered.

Somebody handed him a coffee and Logan refused to go back into his trance. The group was planning that night's _fiesta_, as they were calling it. Logan didn't really care much about the plans but he knew they wouldn't leave him alone unless he participated. Adding a few "uh-huh"s and well placed nods into the mix, he let himself drift back into his mind. His thoughts were almost identical to those the group was thinking, except they were laced with a very bitter tone. It had been a good month, almost two, since Rory left him for that jerkoff. He tried numerous times to get her back and to permanently scar the man, but nothing worked. His typical tricks hadn't worked so he'd been forced to do the extreme.

"So it's decided," Colin announced, grabbing Logan's full attention. "Logan will get us back into the kickass apartment used this morning, where we will hold the first annual Winter Blues party. It's short notice for the guests but who doesn't want to come to an event held by us, the Life and Death Brigade!"

A roar went through the small crowd and Logan nearly went into shock. The apartment from _earlier_? Colin turned the reigns over to Stephanie who started to go on about the decorations and rules of engagement: they'd get to the place early and cover it in blue taffeta and such, adding snowflakes and (it seems they were getting a tad ambitious) a few snowmen. All guests must wear all blue or white and it was going to be an all-nighter. Where they got the idea, Logan didn't know. The most horrifying part was that one of those well-placed nods must have agreed for him to get them back into the apartment. _This can't be good, _Logan thought and tried to keep the terror out of his eyes.

* * *

The doorknob was hanging on by two small metal bars and the door was pushed open. Rory's heart almost stopped when she began to survey the damage. She instinctively reached for Jess's hand and squeezed tightly. One of the first things she noticed was that screen door for the porch was off its track. The bar in the kitchen was trashed; one of the glass panes had been broken. They moved to the bathroom to find their vintage mirror almost shattered. Tears accumulated in Rory's eyes and were quickly shed when they pushed open the door to their future bedroom. 

There was a stain covering a large portion of their carpet. Right in front of them, the letters "LDB" were sketched on the wall in either red lipstick or permanent marker. Rory didn't know which would be easier to get out. Despite the small thought towards the cleanup, she immediately knew who had done the damage.

"Logan," she whispered, her voice full of hatred.

Jess cast a sidelong glance and held on tight to her hand. "What do you mean, Logan? Logan did this?"

Rory nodded and averted her eyes from the devastation. "It's the Life and Death Brigade. It's this stupid secret club all the Yale high-rollers are in. They say they don't have a leader, but Logan's pretty much as high as you can get. It's part of the advantage of having rich parents," she stopped to take a breath. "I did an article on them, and that's how I met Logan. He let me into the group but all they did were stupid antics. This," Rory turned and pointed to the initials on the wall," is a little extreme, but right up their alley."

"But how did he know…"

"I have no clue," she said and shrugged. "Maybe he overheard me talking in the Daily News office or something. The better question is _why_?"

Jess started to mutter and turned to leave what was supposed to be their bedroom. Rory followed willingly and tried to ignore the rest of the damage. She knew who it was, beyond a doubt. They reached Tony, their landlord, who was now accompanied by a pair of policemen. Apparently they were there to finish their police report and Jess unwillingly let go of her hand to say his share.

"Tony?" Rory asked quietly.

The older man looked at her, sympathy visible in his eyes. "Yes?"

"Can we still live here?"

Tony shook his head, "I'm sorry hon, but you can't."

**

* * *

I knew I had to reveal the person, and I think I pretty much did. Right? Review and let me know. I really am sorry it took so long, you should try working 60-70 hour weeks, have a social life, and still write a kickass fanfic. I'm sorry if the characters seem a little OOC, but it shouldn't seem rushed (it took like a month or so to write). I just wanted it to be good because I have a standard to live up to now. It's the 6month (ish) mark to nanowrimoso I should start planning my story. I recommend it to any writers out there. **

**I should hopefully write the next chapter before the end of June (ha!). I'm gonna try to get it started here in a few days and hopefully it won't take so danged long. Please review, I really do look forward to them (and I love email). Also, sorry AGAIN that it's so short (i suck). And, please mosey on over to my other fic, "Can I help you?" because I just posted another chappy. It's also short. Sorry.**


	35. Plans with Evil Laughs

Disclaimer: I don't even know who to not claim this from anymore…screw you WB/UPN/CW.

* * *

The quiet sound of a choked sob made its way to Jess, who was telling the police who exactly they thought it was. His attention was pulled and the source of the sound was highly visible: tears ran down Rory's face as she turned away from Tony. The police had either gotten all the information they needed or sensed the now tangible pain in the room and let Jess go to her. She collapsed into his chest and he held on to her for dear life, wondering what exactly Tony had said. Jess looked over at him and he gave a small nod.

"Maybe you should come with me," their landlord said, motioning to the hallway. "I'm sorry about the apartment but I might be able to pull something together."

"What do you mean?" Jess asked, his arms still wrapped around Rory who was now quietly crying. Her gasps for air were still audible but he could tell she was trying to even them out. Jess put two and two together, his voice grim, "I take it this is no longer our place."

Tony's demeanor answered the question at hand and Jess felt about as heartbroken as he imagined Rory did. "But like I said, I might be able to put something together," Tony reminded him. "This wasn't even your apartment yet, really. You didn't have any keys, so we know it wasn't you guys that did this. You've already paid the deposit and January's rent, so I'm going to look at what I have open, okay?"

Jess nodded, not hopeful about the situation. It was around a month before school was going to start, there was no way another apartment would be free in time. He knew it, the first time they had seen the _perfect_ apartment; it was too good to be true. Jess knew he didn't deserve such good fortune. _Rory does though,_ he thought. "We appreciate it. You know how to contact us, but is there anything else you need?"

"No, you guys can get going. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

Jess thanked Tony and whispered to Rory, "Let's go home." She nodded, the first real movement since he snatched her up in his arms.

_

* * *

_

_The diner smells funny when it's not open,_ Lorelai thought. She was sitting at one of the tables stifling a yawn and watching the traffic outside. Luke was in the kitchen, making something remotely edible. Around an hour before, they had gotten a call from Rory and Jess. Apparently something happened to their apartment and it was somehow related to Logan. They didn't say much more but Lorelai had heard crying in the background. Jess remained composed on the phone but she could sense that the stronger half of that relationship was on the verge of tears as well.

Now both parental figures were playing the waiting game. Lorelai continued to focus on the outdoors while she tried to figure out the situation. It didn't take long for Luke to produce dinner, and then they waited for them to return from New Haven.

Lorelai was the first to catch sight of the slowing down headlights and bodies exiting the car. She had the door to the diner opened before they could even make it to the steps. Luke was dishing out the sandwiches and potato salad – the fastest meal he felt capable of making. Neither Luke nor Lorelai had gotten much sleep in between the marathon and the phone call. The lack of information and concern for what they considered to be their children were the only things keeping them awake and functioning.

The table remained silent as they ate, both couples too exhausted to bring the subject up first. Pleasantries of "pass the salt" were made, the younger couple apparently avoiding the other two.

"Rory, please," Lorelai said with concern, partially annoyed with her daughter for avoiding her eyes yet again. "Tell us what really happened. The silence is killing me!"

"Mom," Rory started, wiping the already formed tears away from her eyes. "We lost the apartment."

"But the landlord is trying to help…find us another place," Jess added, taking Rory's hand in his own.

"We can help too," Luke said, his quiet observation seemingly over. "You guys are fine living here for now, right? You have until the second week of January to find a new place. It'll be okay."

"It's not that simple," Rory snapped back. "Everywhere is taken! This is – **was** – the apartment for us."

Lorelai stood up and pushed her chair back. "Then we'll just have to get you _that_ apartment."

* * *

"Houston, we have a problem," Finn's voice erupted over the phone, his accent ruining the reference. "A slightly _big_ problem."

Logan groaned audibly and nodded, waiting for more information to come. He knew something was going to happen the moment he realized that they wanted to use her apartment again. It was wrong in the first place but in the heat of the moment he didn't care. In hindsight, Logan still didn't care that much…he just had to cover his own ass.

"It seems to be that our venue is currently occupied by somebody else,"

_Probably the actual people that are paying for it._ "Yeah?"

"Certain people that have nice cars with big fancy lights on them?"

"Oh, shit," Logan muttered. "Where are you guys?" _Please don't be right outside…_

"We're around the corner, mate," Finn assured him. "The sirens weren't on but I can spot those twinkling lights a mile away. Should we wait it out?"

"No, Finn. Come back to the apartment and we can figure out where to move the party to,"

"But this isn't just about the party,"

Logan scowled, "Yes. It. Is."

* * *

The mood in the diner went from tense and edgy to almost calmly subdued. There was electricity in the air as Lorelai assumed the head of the table. Her fiancé, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend were her minions, hanging on her every word. She kind of felt like a prettier, classier Hitler – the evil plan was a-brewing.

"He won't have any way to stop you," Lorelai reminded Rory for the umpteenth time. "Logan doesn't have anything against you, as you are 'Rory, the perfect, all-knowing, innocent virgin'."

"Mom," Rory giggled. "I think we all know that's slightly stretching the truth. Not the all-knowing part but the-"

"Okay, but are we sure it's Logan?" Luke interrupted, face reddening at the potential end to Rory's sentence and the inappropriate answers that he could get to his own question. "I mean, is there any chance that somebody else could've broken into your apartment?"

Rory shook her head as Jess looked on. "I mean, the letters LDB were on the wall. LDB! The stupid Life and stupid Death Brigade. It has to be him because the other members in the LDB aren't exactly the brightest crayon in the box."

Jess laughed, "Hence the leaving of their initials."

"Exactly,"

Luke and Lorelai nodded. "So we have a plan, right?" Lorelai asked, looking for confirmation.

Rory shrugged as Jess nodded furiously. "I think it's a great plan Lorelai," Jess said with a smile. "But one problem…"

"Yeah?"

"How is it supposed to get us the apartment back? I mean, it's trashed. The windows are broken and everything's in shambles."

"Honey, you should've seen my house when we moved in," Lorelai said proudly.

The smile on Jess's face faded, "We're screwed!"

* * *

How do you like the tiny little scenes? I'm trying to speed things up here ppls. I know, I totally lied when I said I'd post during June… I must say though, my life has been crazy hectic. I still have two jobs, but now I also have the burden of MOVING sitting on my shoulders. I have around two weeks or so to get all of my stuff packed (and I mean all of it) and I have a day to move it into the new apartment. There's definitely not going to be an update around that time.

But, my life hasn't been all work and no play. This Monday I went to Cedar Point with three good friends! It was slightly impromptu, we decided on Saturday that we'd all play hooky and make the four-something hour drive. Spent the entire day there and had a kickass time. My life doesn't always suck!

I love love LOVED the reviews I got on the last chapter (except for the bitchy person asking when I was going to freakin' update. Gimme a break). I greatly appreciate more reviews, but no askin' when I'm gonna update. It's going to happen at some point in the future, how about leaving it at that?


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